| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TANIHARA Masao Nara Institute of Sci. and Technology., Sci Grad School of material Prof., 物質創成科学研究科, 教授 (50294286)
ENDO Katuaki Kyoto Univ Grad. School of Med., Dep. of Physioligy Instructor, 医学研究科, 助手 (30025613)
SUZUKI Yoshihisa Kyoto Univ Grad. School of Med., Dep. of Plastic surgery Assoc. Prof, 医学研究科, 助教授 (30243025)
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| Research Abstract |
Alginate, derived from brown seaweeds was chemically crosslinked with covalent bond. Biodegradation speed can be controlled by initial concentration of alginate and dose of irradiation. For peripheral nerve repair, sciatic nerve gap in the cats was bridged using alginate sponge, which was specially designed to biodegradate within 3 months. Three months after operation, many regenerated axon were found in the middle of the gap. Electrophysiologically, muscle action potentials could be recorded at the gastrocnemius muscle after electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve proximal to the gap. Rat sciatic nerve gap model, regenerating axons can be seen in the biodegrading alginate, which does not have sponge structure. For central nerve repair, freeze-dried alginate sponge was implanted into the gap of rat spinal cord. Regenerating axons was seen in the implanted alginate and in the host spinal cord, which was examined by HRP-tracing study. Electrophysiologically, action potential was recorded beyond the gap. Next, hippocampus-derived neurospheres were prepared from transgenic rat fetuses expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), and transplanted into an alginate-filled lesion of young rat spinal cord. One, two and four weeks after transplantation, a large number of grafted cells survived, many of which expressed immunoreactiveity for glial fibrillary acidic protein, and a few expressed immunoreactiveity for beta-tubulin These findings demonstrate that rat fetal hippocampus-derived neurosphere cells could survive, differentiate, and integrate well into the host spinal cord tissue.
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