Chitosans in Nerve Regeneration

The high extent of axonal regeneration in the investigated crushed sciatic nerves, which have been contacted by such lyophilized chitosan membranes, indicates that chitosan acts as an inducer of nerve regeneration rather than just as a scaffold providing mechanical stabilization. The authors speculated that chitosan in these materials enhances Schwann cell proliferation, axon elongation and myelination. Additionally, silica ions may influence the 

Further improvements have been achieved using thiolated and non-thiolated hydro)g apatite-coated crab-tendon chitosan (t-chitosan/HAP-SH and t-chitosan/HAP, respectively) tubes, with and without a conjugated laminin peptide sequence (YIGSR). Laminin-1 is considered to be one of the most important cell adhesion molecules, and a pentapeptide sequence (YIGSR) located at its B1 domain is believed to enhance Schwann-cell migration and attachment, as well as neural outgrowth. 

As it turned out, the YIGSR conjugated t-chitosan/HAP-SH showed regenerated nerve tissue, which was attached to thin layers of an epineurium-like structure formed at the inner tube surface. However, from 

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