Sciatic nerve regeneration using a nerve growth factor-containing fibrin glue membrane

Our previous findings confirmed that the nerve growth factor-containing fibrin glue membrane provides a good microenvironment for peripheral nerve regeneration;however,the precise mechanism remains unclear.p75 neurotrophin receptor(p75NTR)plays an important role in the regulation of peripheral nerve regeneration.We hypothesized that a nerve growth factor-containing fibrin glue membrane can promote neural regeneration by up-regulating p75NTRexpression.In this study,we used a silicon nerve conduit to bridge a 15 mm-long sciatic nerve defect and injected a mixture of nerve growth factor and fibrin glue at the anastomotic site of the nerve conduit and the sciatic nerve.Through RT-PCR and western blot analysis,nerve growth factor-containing fibrin glue membrane significantly increased p75NTRmRNA and protein expression in the Schwann cells at the anastomotic site,in particular at 8 weeks after injection of the nerve growth factor/fibrin glue mixture.These results indicate that nerve growth factor-containing fibrin glue membrane can promote peripheral nerve regeneration by up-regulating p75NTRexpression in Schwann cells.