American Society for Peripheral Nerve

Back to 2018 ePosters


A High-Throughput Mouse Platform for Nerve Conduit Assessment
Suresh Mohan, MD1; Wenjin Wang MD, PhD1; Ivan Coto Hernández, PhD1; Kaiyang Yin, MS2; Cathryn Sundback, ScD1; Ulrike G.K. Wegst, PhD2; Nate Jowett, MD1
1Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 2Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

INTRODUCTION

Conventional histologic processing of nerve in rat models is resource intensive. Herein, we describe use of transgenic reporter mice combined with modern microscopy techniques for high-throughput assessment of neural regeneration across bioengineered conduits.

METHODS

A rapid, non-toxic, and stain-free frozen section protocol suitable for assessment of neural regeneration by widefield and confocal laser scanning fluorescent microscopy was employed. Interposition repair of a sciatic nerve defect in Thy1.2 YFP-16 mice was performed using various types of bioengineered neural conduits, and regeneration assessed at six weeks.

RESULTS

Axon counts were achieved within hours of sample harvest. Confocal fluorescent microscopy images revealed excellent morphology of regenerating axons, with rapid visualization of permissive versus repulsive conduit environments.

CONCLUSIONS

A rapid and cost-efficient platform for neural regeneration assessment suitable for high-volume testing of various neural conduit designs has been described.


Back to 2018 ePosters