|
Neural tissue engineering is a specific sub-field of tissue engineering. Neural tissue engineering is primarily a search for strategies to eliminate inflammation and fibrosis upon implantation of foreign substances. Often foreign substances in the form of grafts and scaffolds are implanted to promote nerve regeneration and to repair damage caused to nerves of both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) by an injury. ==Introduction== The nervous system is divided into two subsections: the CNS and the PNS. The CNS consists of the brain and the spinal cord, while the PNS consists of nerves that originate from the brain and spinal cord and innervate the rest of the body.〔 The need for neural tissue engineering arises from the difficulty of the nerve cells and neural tissues to regenerate on their own after neural damage has occurred. The PNS has some, but limited, regeneration of neural cells. Adult stem cell neurogenesis in the CNS has been found to occur in the hippocampus, the subventricular zone (SVZ), and spinal cord. CNS injuries can be caused by stroke, neurodegenerative disorders, trauma, or encephalopathy. A few methods currently being investigated to treat CNS injuries are: implanting stem cells directly into the injury site, delivering morphogens to the injury site, or growing neural tissue ''in vitro'' with neural stem or progenitor cells in a 3D scaffold. For the PNS, a severed nerve can be reconnected and reinnervated using grafts or guidance of the existing nerve through a channel. Recent research into creating miniature cortexes, known as corticopoiesis, and brain models, known as cerebral organoids, are techniques that could further the field of neural tissue regeneration. The native cortical progenitors in corticopoiesis are neural tissues that could be effectively embedded into the brain. Cerebral organoids are 3D human pluripotent stem cells developed into sections of the brain cortex, showing that there is a potential to isolate and develop certain neural tissues using neural progenitors. Another situation that calls for implanting a foreign tissue is use of recording electrodes. Chronic Electrode Implants are a tool currently used in research applications to record signals from regions of the cerebral cortex. Research into the innervation of PNS neurons in patients with paralysis and prosthetics could further the knowledge of reinnervation of neural tissue in both the PNS and the CNS.〔 This research is capable of making one difficult aspect of neural tissue engineering, functional innervation of neural tissue, more manageable.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Neural tissue engineering」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|