Natural biological conduits containing seed cells have been widely used as an alternative strategy for nerve gap reconstruction to replace traditional nerve autograft techniques. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a decellularized allogeneic artery conduit containing autologous transdifferentiated adipose-derived stem cells (dADSCs) on an 8-mm facial nerve branch lesion in a rat model. After 8 weeks, functional evaluation of vibrissae movements and electrophysiological assessment, retrograde labeling of facial motoneurons and morphological analysis of regenerated nerves were performed to assess nerve regeneration. The transected nerves reconstructed with dADSC-seeded artery conduits achieved satisfying regenerative outcomes associated with morphological and functional improvements which approached those achieved with Schwann cell (SC)-seeded artery conduits, and superior to those achieved with artery conduits alone or ADSC-seeded artery conduits, but inferior to those achieved with nerve autografts. Besides, numerous transplanted PKH26-labeled dADSCs maintained their acquired SC-phenotype and myelin sheath-forming capacity inside decellularized artery conduits and were involved in the process of axonal regeneration and remyelination. Collectively, our combined use of decellularized allogeneic artery conduits with autologous dADSCs certainly showed beneficial effects on nerve regeneration and functional restoration, and thus represents an alternative approach for the reconstruction of peripheral facial nerve defects.
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