New Technique to Create Engineered Nerve Structures to Repair Spinal Cord Injuries Described in Tissue Engineering.

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Repair of extensive spinal cord injuries may benefit from a novel technique that creates long nerve constructs containing mechanically elongated axons that can span and regenerate the damaged area, according to a report in the January 2006 issue (Volume 12, Number 1) of Tissue Engineering, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The paper is available free online ahead of publication at www.liebertpub.com/ten.

Coaxing nerve cells to grow in the body and to bridge the long gaps created by extensive spinal cord injuries remains a huge challenge. Akira Iwata, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and at Cephalon, Inc. (Westchester, PA), in a paper entitled, "Long-Term Survival and Outgrowth of Mechanically Engineered Nervous Tissue Constructs Implanted Into Spinal Cord Lesions," have shown that they are able to engineer in vitro elongated nerve constructs that can survive following transplantation into a rat model of spinal cord injury.

The authors devised a novel method of elongating axons by applying continuous mechanical tension, causing the axons to bridge the gap between two populations of dorsal root ganglia grown in culture. The axons stretched (grew) to a length of 1 cm in 7 days. The elongated cultures were then encased in a collagen hydrogel containing nerve growth factor (NGF) to form the engineered construct.

Following implantation into the rat model, the nerve constructs survived for the 4-week study period, and axons from the constructs began to extend into the host tissue. Further studies will be needed to demonstrate normal nerve activity and restoration of function.

"One of the main hurdles to the restoration of nerve function is the slow rate of growth of axons to reconnect nerve connections that have been disrupted," says Peter C. Johnson, M.D., President and CEO of Scintellix, LLC and Co-Editor in Chief of Tissue Engineering. "This work exhibits a novel shortcut in this process, with potential for tangible clinical implications as this research progresses."

Tissue Engineering is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online that brings together scientific and medical experts in the fields of biomedical engineering, material science, molecular and cellular biology, and genetic engineering. Tissue Engineering is the official journal of TERMIS--Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society. Tables of contents and a free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/ten.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Human Gene Therapy, Stem Cells and Development, and Cloning and Stem Cells. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com.