Peripheral nerve injury often results in poor recovery of function and subsequent impaired quality of life for the patient. A severe nerve injury leads to critical-sized nerve gaps and requires surgical repair with autologous or engineered nerve grafts. Though many approaches to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration have not outperformed the “gold standard” set by autograft procedures, studies over the past few decades have resulted in several clinically available bioabsorbable conduits and novel peripheral nerve interfaces.

Peripheral nerve injury leads to Wallerian degeneration of axons and denervation of Schwann cells (SCs) distal to the site of injury. Recent advances in stem cell technology hold significant promise in the repair of the peripheral nervous system. The understanding of stem cell differentiation, homing, neurotrophic factors secretion and novel repair material, and the ability to mobilize endogenous stem cells to assist peripheral nerve regeneration constitute key points of research interest in nerve regeneration. We invite authors to submit original research and review articles that seek to determine the role of stem cells from widespread sources in the complex process of peripheral nerve regeneration. We are interested in papers that explore the advance of tissue engineering and neuroengineering in nerve regeneration in humans and also in animal models. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Recent developments in peripheral nerve injury research
• Advances in cell biology in peripheral nerve research including development of novel stem cells transplantation strategies
• Role and mechanism of stem cells in nerve regeneration, including identification of novel regulators in stem cells differentiation, and elucidating the role of host factors of various stem cells in neuroregeneration
• Peripheral nerve injury mechanism using model systems
• Advances in tissue engineering and neuroengineering including development and testing of novel nerve scaffold
• New cellular and translational animal model to understand and promote nerve regeneration
• Latest technologies for clinical evaluation and measuring outcome after peripheral nerve injury

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/bmri/neuroscience/pnr/ according to the following timetable: