Objective(s) Motor deficit and neuron degeneration is seen after nerve transection. The aim of this study is to determine whether a poled polyvinelidene fluoride (PVDF) tube with other supportive strategies can protect the neuronal morphology and motor function after sciatic nerve transaction in rats. Materials and Methods After transection of the left sciatic nerve in 60 male Wistar rats (2...

The restoration of connections in the injured central nervous system (CNS) of adult mammals is hindered by the failure of axons to grow back to their natural fields of innervation. Following transection of the optic nerve of adult rodents, the guided regeneration of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons along a transplanted segment of peripheral nerve (PN) has shown that these neurones retain their...

The mAb E 21 recognizes a cell surface glycoprotein selectively associated with fish retinal ganglion cell axons that are in a state of growth. All retinal axons and ganglion cells in goldfish embryos stained for E 21. In adult fish, however, E 21 immunoreactivity exhibited a patterned distribution in ganglion cells in the marginal growth zone of the continuously enlarging fish retina and the n...

The tibial nerve transection model is a well-tolerated, validated, and reproducible model of denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy in rodents. Although originally developed and used extensively in the rat due to its larger size, the tibial nerve in mice is big enough that it can be easily manipulated with either crush or transection, leaving the peroneal and sural nerve branches of the sc...

It was previously shown that newly formed oligodendrocytes depend on axons for their survival, but the nature of the axon-derived survival signal(s) remained unknown. We show here that neuregulin (NRG) supports the survival of purified oligodendrocytes and aged oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) but not of young OPCs. We demonstrate that axons promote the survival of purified oligodendrocyt...

BACKGROUND Using a rat L5 spinal nerve transection model we previously showed that pentoxifylline prevents hyperalgesia through antiinflammation in the prefrontal brain. In this study, we examined efficacy when applied after injury. METHODS We examined the effect of pentoxifylline on existing mechanical allodynia, observing glial activation and proinflammatory cytokine expression in the lumba...

Persisting motor function deficit after peripheral nerve injury often results from axotomized motoneuron death. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor, trkB, are known to promote peripheral nerve regeneration. However, the requirement of BDNF and trkB for adult motoneuron survival after peripheral nerve injury is not established. We studied the number of surviving and regener...