Tiam Mana Saffari

145 FUNCTIONAL MOTOR RECOVERY OF ANGIOGENESIS OF NERVE ALLOGRAFTS 7 Figure 8. Evidence of nerve tissue and vascularity, determined by immunofluorescent staining of protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) and CD34, respectively. Micrographs showing density in mid-distal graft sections from control nerve samples (A), autograft (B), allograft (C) and allograft wrapped with a superficial inferior epigastric artery fascial flap (SIEF, D) at 12 weeks. PGP.9.5 expression, staining both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers showed a consistent distribution throughout the nerve tissue in all groups. Vascularity, determined by CD34 staining, showed consistent distribution throughout the nerve tissue in control and autograft (A,B). In allografts, CD34 was mostly expressed in the outer surface of the nerve sample and only little present in the core of the nerve. Wrapping with the SIEF flap resulted in an increased expression in the core of the allograft with consistent distribution throughout the nerve tissue (C,D). Density of axons and vascularity (normalized to the combined area of tissues positively stained for any of PGP9.5, CD34 and Hoechst) is shown on the left page, respectively, expressed in percentages. Error bars denote mean ± SEM. *Indicates significance at P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001). Scale bars are set at 100 µm. SEM: Standard error of the mean.