PHILADELPHIA, July 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Faced with repairing a major
nerve injury to the craniofacial region, surgeons can use a
nerve from an arm or leg to restore movement or sensation. This
approach—known as an autograft—is the standard of care, but it can
take a toll on a previously uninjured body part, and the procedure
doesn't always result in complete and functional nerve regrowth.
Dr. Ahn Le, Chair and Norman Vine
Endowed Professor of Oral Rehabilitation in the Department of Oral
and Maxillofacial Surgery at Penn Dental Medicine, is pioneering a
different approach.
Le and collaborators are coaxing gingival mesenchymal stem cells
(GMSCs)—stem cells from gum tissue—to produce nerve-supportive
cells that facilitate nerve regrowth.
"We wanted to create a biological approach and use the
regenerating ability of stem cells," says Le. "To be able to
recreate nerve-supportive cells in this way is really a new
paradigm."
For more than a decade, Le's lab has explored the use of GMSCs
to regenerate different types of craniofacial tissues and to treat
osteonecrosis of the jaw that can occur when a patient takes
bisphosphonate, a drug used to treat metastatic cancer or prevent
bone loss in osteoporosis. Her lab team was able to apply their
previous understanding of GMSCs to facilitate their conversion
into Schwann-like cells, the pro-regenerative cells of the
peripheral nervous system that make neural growth factors and
myelin, the insulating layer around nerves.
To move the work forward, Le collaborated with bioengineer D.
Kacy Cullen of Penn Medicine, an
expert in creating and testing nerve scaffold materials. Together
they showed that infusing a collagen scaffold with these cells and
using them to guide the repair of facial nerve injuries in animals
was just as effective as an autograft procedure. Although the
repaired gap was small, the team is continuing to refine the method
to repair larger ones that often result from trauma or
tumor-removal surgeries.
Le notes that this approach would enable patients with oral
cancer or facial trauma to use their own tissue to recover motor
function and sensation following a repair.
While Le's group focuses on the head and neck, further work on
this model could translate to nerve repair in other areas of the
body as well. "I'm hopeful we can continue moving this forward
toward clinical application," she says.
Contact:
Beth Adams
adamsnb@dental.upenn.edu
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SOURCE Penn Dental Medicine