Peripheral nerve regeneration through blind-ended semipermeable guidance channels: effect of the molecular weight cutoff.

Synthetic nerve guidance channels are used to better understand the cellular and molecular events controlling peripheral nerve regeneration. In the present study, the contribution of wound-healing molecules to peripheral nerve regeneration was assessed by varying the molecular weight cutoff of the tubular membrane. Nerve regeneration through polysulfone tubular membranes with molecular weight (Mw) cutoffs of 10(5) and 10(6) Da was analyzed in a transected hamster sciatic nerve model. Cohorts of 6 animals received tubes of either type for 4 or 8 weeks with the distal end of the polymer tube capped. Other cohorts of 6 animals received tubes of either type for 4 weeks with the distal nerve stump secured within the guidance channel so as to create a 4 or 8 mm gap between both nerve stumps. Both types of channels contained regenerated tissue cables extending to the distal end of the guidance channel at both 4 and 8 weeks in the absence of a distal nerve stump. The cables regenerated in the 10(5) Da channels were composed of nerve fascicles surrounded by a loose epineurial sheath, whereas those regenerated in the 10(6) Da channels were composed mainly of granulation tissue. The numbers of myelinated and unmyelinated axons were significantly greater in the 10(5) Da than in the 10(6) Da channels at both 4 and 8 weeks. Both types of channel contained regenerated tissue cables with numerous nerve fascicles when the distal nerve stump was present with either gap length. However, when the gap distance was 8 mm, the 10(6) Da channels contained significantly fewer myelinated axons than the 10(5) Da channels. The present study reveals that the Mw cutoff of a semipermeable guidance channel strongly influences the outcome of peripheral nerve regeneration, possibly by controlling the exchange of molecules between the channel's lumen and the external wound-healing environment. These results suggest that the wound-healing environment secretes humoral factors that can either promote or inhibit the nerve-regeneration process.