A new cell culture protocol for enrichment and genetic modification of adult canine Schwann cells suitable for peripheral nerve tissue engineering

Easily applicable techniques are presented to obtain high numbers of enriched canine Schwann cells (cSC) in a short time-window. The potential of adult SC for tissue engineering of peripheral nerves and ex vivo gene therapy is obvious from physiological events taking place after peripheral nerve transection [Haastert, K., Grothe, C., 2007. Gene therapy in peripheral nerve reconstruction approaches. Curr. Gene Ther. 7, 221-228]. The presented techniques were modified from a protocol for cultivation and expansion of adult cSC by others [Pauls, J., Nolte, C., Forterre, F., Brunnberg, L., 2004. Cultivation and expansion of canine Schwann cells using reexplantation. Berl. Munch. Tierarztl. Wochenschr. 117, 341-352] and own experiences in rodent and human SC cultivation and transfection [Haastert, K., Mauritz, C., Chaturvedi, S., Grothe, C., 2007. Human and rat adult Schwann cell cultures: fast and efficient enrichment and highly effective non-viral transfection protocol. Nat. Protoc. 2, 99-104]. A purity of about 80% cSC achieved by immunopanning techniques and selective culture conditions is 2.5 fold higher as previously reported (Pauls et al., 2004). Additionally, highly enriched cSC populations are available in 3-4 weeks, only half the time period reported previously (Pauls et al., 2004). Furthermore, electroporation and genetic modification of cSC is reported for the first time.