Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2014, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (6): 602-609.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.130101

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Rapamycin promotes Schwann cell migration and nerve growth factor secretion

Fang Liu 1, Haiwei Zhang 1, Kaiming Zhang 1, Xinyu Wang 2, Shipu Li 2, Yixia Yin 2   

  1. 1 Department of Orthopedics, Second Hospital of Yueyang, Yueyang, Hunan Province, China
    2 State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, and Biomedical Materials and Engineering Center, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hunan Province, China
  • Received:2014-02-22 Online:2014-03-22 Published:2014-03-22
  • Contact: Yixia Yin, Ph.D., State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, and Biomedical Materials and Engineering Center, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, Hunan Province, China, yinyixia@whut.edu.cn.
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program), No. 2011CB606205; the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 51172171 and 51103112; the Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education, No. 313041; the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, No. 2013CFB354; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, No. WUT: 2013-IV-099.

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Abstract:

Rapamycin, similar to FK506, can promote neural regeneration in vitro. We assumed that the mechanisms of action of rapamycin and FK506 in promoting peripheral nerve regeneration were similar. This study compared the effects of different concentrations of rapamycin and FK506 on Schwann cells and investigated effects and mechanisms of rapamycin on improving peripheral nerve regeneration. Results demonstrated that the lowest rapamycin concentration (1.53 nmol/L) more significantly promoted Schwann cell migration than the highest FK506 concentration (100 μmol/L). Rapamycin promoted the secretion of nerve growth factors and upregulated growth-associated protein 43 expression in Schwann cells, but did not significantly affect Schwann cell proliferation. Therefore, rapamycin has potential application in peripheral nerve regeneration therapy.

Key words: nerve regeneration, peripheral nerve injury, rapamycin, FK506, Schwann cell, cell migration, nerve growth factor, growth-associated protein 43, NSFC grant, neural regeneration