Augmenting Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Using Rat Hair Follicle Stem Cells (rHFSCs) in Rats

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, cell therapy is the most advanced treatment of peripheral nerve injury. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of transplantation of hair follicle stem cells on the regeneration of the sciatic nerve injury in rats. Methods: The bulge region of the rat whisker was isolated and cultured. Morphological and biological features of the cultured bulge cells were observed by light microscopy and immunocytochemistry methods. Percentages of CD34, K15 and Nestin cell markers expression were demonstrated by flow cytometry. Rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: Injury group, epineurium group, and epineurium-with-cell group, that rat hair follicular stem cells (rHFSCs) were injected into the site of nerve cut. HFSCs were labeled with BrdU, and double-labeling immunofluorescence was performed to study survival and differentiation of the grafted cells. After 8 weeks, electrophysiological, histological and immunocytochemical analysis assessments were performed. Results: The results of this study show that rat hair follicle stem cells are suitable for cell culture, proliferation and differentiation. The results suggest that transplantation of rat hair follicle stem cells had the potential capability of regenerating sciatic nerve injury; moreover, evidence of electrophysiology and histology show that Epineurium with cell repair was more effective than the other experimental group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The achieved results propose that hair follicle stem cell would improve axonal growth and functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury.