Porcine Acellular Nerve-Derived Hydrogel Improves Outcomes of Direct Muscle Neurotization in Rats.

The ability to reinnervate a muscle in the absence of a viable nerve stump is a challenging clinical scenario. Direct muscle neurotization (DMN) is an approach to overcome this obstacle; however, success depends on the formation of new muscle endplates, a process, which is often limited due to lack of appropriate axonal pathfinding cues. This study explored the use of a porcine nerve extracellular matrix hydrogel as a neuroinductive interface between nerve and muscle in a rat DMN model.

Safety and efficacy of an injectable nerve-specific hydrogel in a rodent crush injury model.

Introduction/aims: While the peripheral nervous system has the inherent ability to recover following injury, results are often unsatisfactory, resulting in permanent functional deficits and disability. Therefore, methods that enhance regeneration are of significant interest. The present study investigates an injectable nerve-tissue-specific hydrogel as a biomaterial for nerve regeneration in a rat nerve crush model.

Nerve-specific extracellular matrix hydrogel promotes functional regeneration following nerve gap injury.

Nerve transection requires surgical intervention to restore function. The standard of care involves coaptation when a tension-free repair is achievable, or interposition of a graft or conduit when a gap remains. Despite advances, nerve gap injury is associated with unsatisfactory recovery.

Distinct macrophage populations and phenotypes associated with IL-4 mediated immunomodulation at the host implant interface.

The host macrophage response to implants has shown to be affected by tissue location and physio-pathological conditions of the patient. Success in immunomodulatory strategies is thus predicated on the proper understanding of the macrophage populations participating on each one of these contexts. The present study uses an in vivo implantation model to analyze how immunomodulation via an IL-4 eluting implant affects distinct macrophage populations at the tissue-implant interface and how this may affect downstream regenerative processes.