Abstract: The management of peripheral nerve injury is a tough problem clinically.Intensive studies in the past were focused on the bridging of nerve defects and the improvement of regeneration rate.But actually the clinical results of functional recovery after peripheral nerve lesion is mainly decided by the accurate regeneration of axons to their original target tissues and structures.Therefore,better clinical results could be obtained by a greater understanding of the cellular and molecular biology of selective nerve regeneration and the application of this theory clinically.This paper summarized recent studies on the cellular and molecular biology mechanisms of peripheral nerve selective regeneration.

Key words: peripheral nerve, nervous regeneration, chemotropism, review