Poor regrowth of nerves and the difficulty of re-establishing the nerve connection with muscles mean that one consequence of nerve injury is muscle wasting and weakness. It is the general objective of this project to improve nerve regeneration in order to reduce the time that a muscle is without nerve support, hence avoiding the muscle tissues wasting away. This team will test the affect of applying growth factors (small proteins that promote survival and regeneration of nerve cells) to damaged nerves and identify those factors which appear to act specifically on weight bearing muscles and their nerve cells.