X-Message-Number: 30559
From: "Eisab" <>
Subject: nervous tissue bridge 
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:35:09 -0500

First System Of Human Nerve-cell Tissue Engineered
ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2008) - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania 
School of Medicine have demonstrated that living human nerve cells can be 
engineered into a network that could one day be used for transplants to 
repair damaged to the nervous system.

>Axons sprouted from the neurons on each plate and connected with neurons on 
>the other plate. The plates were then slowly pulled apart over a series of 
>days, aided by a precise computer-controlled motor system, creating long 
>tracts of living axons.

These cultures were then embedded in a collagen matrix, rolled into a form 
resembling a jelly roll, and then implanted into a rat model of spinal cord 
injury. After the four-week study period, the researchers found that the 
geometry of the construct was maintained and that the neurons at both ends 
and all the axons spanning these neurons survived transplantation. More 
importantly, the axons at the ends of the construct adjacent to the host 
tissue extended through the collagen barrier to connect with the host tissue 
as a sort of nervous tissue bridge <

Researchers report their findings in the February issue of the Journal of 
Neurosurgery. Penn co-authors are Jason H. Huang, Eric L. Zager, Jun Zhang, 
Robert G. Groff IV, Bryan J. Pfister, M. Sean Grady, and Eileen 
Maloney-Wilensky. Akiva S. Cohen from The Children's' Hospital of 
Philadelphia was also a co-author. The authors thank the Gift of Life 
program and the family members of the organ donors for their support and 
selfless sacrifice. This work was funded by the National Institutes of 
Health

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080226135424.htm



Eisab

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