Abstract 133: Transcriptional and Cell Cycle Alterations Distinguish Aging of Primary Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells from Fibroblasts

RESULTS: The release of NGF from the conduit was within the concentration range of 0.5~10 ng/ml/day (n=5) without an initial burst. The released NGF stimulated in vitro neurite growth of cultured DRGs (823.4 ± 24.3 μm using day 28 release sample) comparable to fresh NGF (845.7 ± 25.7 μm using 10 ng/ml fresh NGF) (p>0.05), demonstrating that the released NGF from the conduit at 37°C for 4 weeks was bioactive. In the in vivo study, reduced muscle atrophy was observed in the NGF delivery group (49.4 ± 1.4 %) as compared to the empty conduit (65.1 ± 5.1 %) (p<0.05). ~20% more myelination was observed in the distal sciatic nerve of the NGF nerve conduit compared to the empty conduit (p<0.05). The NGFdelivering conduit had a higher percentage of re-innervated neuromuscular junctions (28.1 ± 2 %) compared to empty conduits (9.7 ± 1.3 %) (p<0.05).