Femke Mathot

8 Stem cells on nerve graft substitutes 133 Figure 1. Cell-viability over time of MSCs when combined with the Avance® Nerve Graft and the NeuraGen® Nerve Guide (n=3 per group per time point). Viability of MSCs in presence of the Avance® Nerve Graft and the NeuraGen® Nerve Guide is expressed as a ratio of the viability of MSCs without any of the nerve substitutes. pHEMA coating was used in all groups presented in this figure. There were no significant differences between and within groups in 7 days of follow-up. Error bars: SEM. SEM = standard error of the mean Figure 2. Live/Dead stains of a seeded Avance® Nerve Graft (A) and a seeded NeuraGen® Nerve Guide (B) after 12 hours of seeding with MSCs, show mainly living cells (green) mixed with only a few dead cells (red) on the surface of both nerve substitutes. Figure 3. Hoechst stained Avance® Nerve Graft (A) and NeuraGen® Nerve Guide (B) after 12 hours of dynamic seeding with MSCs show a uniform distribution of cell nuclei among both nerve substitutes (10X). Cell nuclei are displayed in bright blue. 1 day 2 days 3 days 7 days 0 2 4 6 8 Culture duration Mean cell viability ratio MTS assay Avance® Nerve graft + MSCs NeuraGen® Nerve guide + MSCs