Fig. 2: An inverse relationship between wound contraction and induced regeneration was demonstrated in transected rat sciatic nerves grafted by a library of five different porous collagen scaffolds, either DRT or analogs of DRT, differing only in degradation half-life.

a OsO₄ staining of tissue sections reveals the formation of a contractile MFB capsule (thickness shown between red arrows) around the newly-formed nerve tissue (stars) 9 weeks post-injury. b Quantification of the inverse relationship between the intensity of wound contraction (assayed by the radial thickness of the MFB capsule) and quality of induced regeneration, assayed both by the equivalent tissue diameter (left) and the number of myelinated fibers (right). Data (mean ± se) were obtained at the midpoint of the gap distance, 15 mm, initially separating the two nerve stumps, measured 9 weeks post-injury²⁰. Scale bars 50 μm. Figure 2a, b were reproduced with permission from Biomaterials, 33, 4783–91, ^©Elsevier (2012).