Axonal regeneration through arterial grafts.

The left common peroneal nerves of adult inbred mice were severed and allowed to regenerate through the lumina of Y-shaped tubes comprising grafts of abdominal aorta and its bifurcation. Very little regeneration took place within the grafts unless the distal nerve stump was inserted into one limb of the Y-tube. Using syngeneic grafts virtually all the axons regenerating through the lumen grew down the limb of the Y-tube containing the distal nerve. Using non-syngeneic grafts, however, a substantial minority of the axons grew down the 'open' limb of the Y-tube. Axonal regeneration was more successful in non-syngeneic grafts.