BACKGROUND: The patients with severe spleen rupture can save their spleen functions by auto-transplantation of the spleen tissues in the greater omentum. Whether the transplanted spleen tissues are regulated by nerves or not is still unclear. The growth associated protein, GAP-43, is a specific protein of the nervous system, and by testing the GAP-43 in the transplanted spleen tissues, nerve regeneration can be understood.OBJECTIVE: To study the mRNA expression of the GAP-43 in the regenerated spleen tissues at different phases after the auto-transplantation of the spleen tissues, and to find the regeneration regularity of the GAP-43 + nerves in the auto-transplanted spleen tissues.DESIGN: A randomized and controlled experiment SETTING: A teaching and research office of the surgical applied anatomy and operative surgery department in a university MATERIALS: The study was done in the Surgical Applied Anatomy and Operative Surgery Department of the Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA from September 2002 to July 2003. A total of 120 Wistar mice were chosen. The mice were randomly divided into the experiment group and pseudo-operation group(control group) to make animal models. After the operation, mice of the two groups were fed under the same circumstances. The spleen tissues were respectively taken at the 15th, 30th, 60th,90th, 120th and 180th days after the operation for the study.METHODS: The general RNA was extracted from the tissues using the Tripure agent by the routine method. The general RNA was reverse transcribed into cDNA using the M-MLV reverse transcription kit. The mRNA of the GAP-43 was quantitatively measured using the gel pattern analysis.tern analysis.RESULTS: Totally 30 days after the transplantation of the spleen tissues, the mRNA of the GAP-43 was found to be expressed in the auto-transplanted spleen tissues. Ninety days after the operation, the expression reached the peak level. Totally 120 to 180 days after the operation the amount of the mRNA of the GAP-43 in the transplanted spleen tissues gradually got close to that in the normal spleen tissues.CONCLUSION: The expression of mRNA of the GAP-43 in the auto-transplanted spleen tissues suggests the regeneration of the nervous fiber in the transplanted spleen tissues.