An allogeneic ‘off the shelf’ therapeutic strategy for peripheral nerve tissue engineering using clinical grade human neural stem cells

C. O’Rourke, A. G. E. Day, C. Murray-Dunning, L. Thanabalasundaram, J. Cowan, L. Stevanato, N. Grace, G. Cameron, R. A. L. Drake, J. Sinden & J. B. Phillips (2018) An allogeneic ‘off the shelf’ therapeutic strategy for peripheral nerve tissue engineering using clinical grade human neural stem cells. Scientific Reports 8, 2951

New Publication: ‘Off the shelf’ living replacement nerve tissue

This paper reports a study in which engineered neural tissue (EngNT) was made using ReNeuron‘s clinical grade stem cells and tested in a nerve injury model using athymic nude rats. This approach offers the possibility of developing an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) using allogeneic cells which could potentially be suitable for implantation into patients […]

PhD Studentship in Nerve Tissue Engineering

A PhD studentship is available entitled “Combining Therapeutic Cells and Biomaterials to Develop Engineered Tissue for Repairing Peripheral Nerves”. For more details visit the UCL studentship page.

Controlling human corneal stromal stem cell contraction to mediate rapid cell and matrix organization of real architecture for 3-dimensional tissue equivalents

Mukhey D, Phillips JB, Daniels JT, Kureshi AK (2018) Controlling human corneal stromal stem cell contraction to mediate rapid cell and matrix organization of real architecture for 3-dimensional tissue equivalents. Acta Biomaterialia. 2018 Feb;67:229-237

International collaborations generate new EngNT papers

In 2017 we were involved in studies demonstrating further development of Engineered Neural Tissue (EngNT) technology. These included in vivo testing of EngNT made using differentiated dental pulp stem cells in collaboration with colleagues in Hasselt University in Belgium, and two papers exploring the use of different ECM materials and mesenchymal stem cells and Schwann cells in […]

Schwann cells and mesenchymal stem cells in laminin- or fibronectin-aligned matrices and regeneration across a critical size defect of 15 mm in the rat sciatic nerve

Gonzalez-Perez F, Hernández J, Heimann C, Phillips JB, Udina E, Navarro X (2017) Schwann cells and mesenchymal stem cells in laminin- or fibronectin-aligned matrices and regeneration across a critical size defect of 15 mm in the rat sciatic nerve. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, doi: 10.3171/2017.5.SPINE161100

The Effect of Hypothermic and Cryogenic Preservation on Engineered Neural Tissue

Day AGE, Bhangra KS, Murray-Dunning C, Stevanato L, Phillips JB (2017) The Effect of Hypothermic and Cryogenic Preservation on Engineered Neural Tissue. Tissue Engineering Part C Methods, 23, 575-582

Preservation methods for EngNT

Our paper published in Tissue Engineering Part C Methods explores protocols for the preservation of Engineered Neural Tissue (EngNT). This is an important consideration for translational development of the technology, where storage and transportation of living artificial tissue would be advantageous. The study identified hypothermic approaches suitable for short-term storage and cryogenic approaches for longer […]

Low frequency oscillating gradient spin-echo sequences improve sensitivity to axon diameter: An experimental study in viable nerve tissue

Kakkar LS, Bennett OF, Siow B, Richardson S, Ianuş A, Quick T, Atkinson D, Phillips JB & Drobnjak I (2017) Low frequency oscillating gradient spin-echo sequences improve sensitivity to axon diameter: An experimental study in viable nerve tissue. NeuroImage https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.07.060

Could clinical photochemical internalisation be optimised to avoid neuronal toxicity?

C. O’Rourke, C. Hopper, A.J. MacRobert, J.B. Phillips & J.H. Woodhams (2017) Could clinical photochemical internalisation be optimised to avoid neuronal toxicity? International Journal of Pharmaceutics 528, 133-143