The regenerative capability of PNS cells, including Schwann cells (SCs) has been exploited clinically in cell transplantation therapies to treat CNS trauma and neurodegenerative diseases.However, the characteristics of peripheral nerve cells has not yet been addressed thoroughly in humans. The goal of this study was to identify specific markers able to reveal the identity and stage of differentiation of cells from intact and injured human nerves. Therefore, we developed and validated an in vitro model of human nerve degeneration to be compared with injured nerves from participants enrolled in a nerve transplantation clinical trial for Parkinson’s disease. Histological analysis revealed that: (1) NGFR was a reliable marker to discriminate PNS cells from CNS neurons and glial cells; (2) S100B, GFAP and Sox10 were useful to specifically identify SCs within nerve tissues, with the caveat that they also revealed glial populations in the CNS; and (3) MPZ and PRX were equally useful to identify myelin sheaths derived from SCs rather than oligodendrocytes. To conclude, these markers can be used in different combinations to reveal grafted PNS cells, mainly SCs, in the human CNS to study their survival, differentiation and relationship to host tissue.