An isolated spinal sensory neuron (yellow), regenerating axons (red) on an underlying tissue section of peripheral nerve (green) are seen here in tissue culture.

The striking orientation of the growing axons closely mirrors the alignment of Schwann cell basal lamina tubes (green) in the section.

The preference of axons for this path exactly mirrors their behavior in vivo after nerve injury and thus serves as a model system for studying the underlying mechanisms of peripheral nerve regeneration.