Territory maximization hypothesis during peripheral nerve regeneration

摘要

Territory awareness refers to the notion that an organism lives in a territory, considers this territory its own, and prevents entry of other organisms. Generally, an organism maximizes its territory for best survival advantages, which subsequently allows for species continuation. Axonal sprouting occurs when peripheral nerves regenerate. The distal regenerated nerve fibers significantly outnumber those at the proximal end of the donor nerve, which has long been termed the "multiple amplification" phenomenon (Yin et al., 2013). Previous studies have shown that sprouting and multiple amplification occur during periph-eral nerve regeneration. The regenerated nerve fibers greatly outnumber the original fibers of the donor nerve, thereby fill-ing the entire physiological space of the acceptor nerves and allowing for the peripheral neurons to maximize innervation to the target organs. However, the role of the fibers in the am-plification processes remains to be shown, as well as the factors involved in amplification. Additionally, very little is understood about how the fibers serve as donor nerves to repair peripheral nerve injury, whether there is a biological motive for the regen-eration process, and whether the peripheral neurons have their own behavioral pattern. Further investigation might offer dif-ferent perspectives about peripheral nerve regeneration and the potential application in disease treatments.