Nerve regeneration model and trophic factors in vivo.

The proximal stump of a transected rat sciatic nerve has been observed to regenerate through a cylindrical silicone chamber across a 10 mm gap to the distal stump. The fluid filling such in vivo chambers contains trophic factors that ensure in vitro survival and growth of at least sensory neurons from rodent dorsal root ganglia--as already demonstrated for fluid generated in vitro from Schwann and other cell cultures.