Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Nerve Tissue Engineering: Bridging Nerve Gap Injuries in Large Animals

Cell-therapy-based nerve repair strategies hold great promise. In the field, there is an extensive amount of evidence for better regenerative outcomes when using tissue-engineered nerve grafts for bridging severe gap injuries. Although a massive number of studies have been performed using rodents, only a limited number involving nerve injury models of large animals were reported. Nerve injury models mirroring the human nerve size and injury complexity are crucial to direct the further clinical development of advanced therapeutic interventions. Thus, there is a great need for the advancement of research using large animals, which will closely reflect human nerve repair outcomes. Within this context, this review highlights various stem cell-based nerve repair strategies involving large animal models such as pigs, rabbits, dogs, and monkeys, with an emphasis on the limitations and strengths of therapeutic strategy and outcome measurements. Finally, future directions in the field of nerve repair are discussed. Thus, the present review provides valuable knowledge, as well as the current state of information and insights into nerve repair strategies using cell therapies in large animals.

Automated summary

Cell-therapy-based nerve repair strategies show great promise, but there is a lack of research in large animal models. More studies using large animals are needed to better reflect human nerve repair outcomes. This review focuses on stem cell-based nerve repair strategies using large animal models such as pigs, rabbits, dogs, and monkeys, discussing the limitations and strengths of treatment approaches and outcome measurements. The future directions in the field of nerve repair are also discussed. Therefore, this review provides valuable knowledge and insights into nerve repair strategies using cell therapies in large animals.