Are Schwann cells essential for axonal regeneration into muscle autografts?

When axons regenerate through frozen-thawed (FT) muscle grafts, they are accompanied by co-migrating Schwann cells derived from the nerve stumps. Although acellular, FT muscle grafts contain an internal scaffold of basal laminae rich in components capable of supporting neurite outgrowth in vitro such as laminin and fibronectin: it is not known whether Schwann cells are essential for axonal regrowth within these grafts. In this paper we test the hypothesis that sarcolemmal basal laminae will support axonal regeneration in the absence of Schwann cells.

Two groups of 12 adult Wistar rats were used. All rats received a 0.5 cm FT muscle graft, and 12 rats also received a subperineurial injection of the anti-mitotic agent mitomycin C (400 micrograms/ml in physiological saline) prior to grafting. Previous studies have shown that this dose effectively depresses cell proliferation within the endoneurium for 3-4 weeks 17, 18, 28.

Rats were killed (n = 3) 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks later. The spatio- ... more.

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