Project
Novel Engineered Living Neural Tissues for Peripheral Nerve Repair (EngNT)
This project aims to develop novel living engineered neural tissue (EngNT) for peripheral nerve repair in collaboration with ReNeuron. EngNT technology provides a simple two-step method for the construction of aligned cellular materials that can act as artificial tissues. These have applications in regenerative medicine and as model tissues for research. Following initial development and successful testing of EngNT for peripheral nerve repair (Georgiou et al., 2013), more recent projects have focussed on translating the approach towards the clinic. This has involved close collaboration with clinical and commercial sector partners as well as academic researchers in Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Austria and the US. We have now generated EngNT using a range of clinically relevant cell types and materials and have developed production technology to facilitate future commercial and clinical applications. In particular, our recent work, published in Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods, showed EngNT could be preserved successfully without compromising cellular viability or its functional architecture. This would allow flexibility in the timing between manufacture and usage, enabling manufacturing to be conducted in a specialist facility with subsequent distribution to clinical centres. Furthermore, the ability to store an allogeneic ‘off the shelf’ formulation of EngNT could allow clinics to maintain stock locally.
Funders: UCLB
Key publications/presentations (EngNT-CTX)
A.G.E. Day, K. S. Bhangra, C. Murray-Dunning, L. Stevanato J B. Phillips (2017). The Effect of Hypothermic and Cryogenic Preservation on Engineered Neural Tissue. Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods.
C O’Rourke, AGE Day, C Murray-Dunning, L Thanabalasundaram, L Stevanato, N Grace, G Cameron, J Sinden, JB Phillips (in review) Clinical-grade human neural stem cells provide an allogeneic therapeutic strategy for peripheral nerve repair.
J.B. Phillips (2016) Construction of engineered neural tissue using clinically relevant materials and cells. TERMIS EU, 28 June – 1 July 2016, Uppsala, Sweden.
C. Murray-Dunning, A.G. Day, M. Georgiou, R.A. Drake, G. Cameron, N. Grace, L. Thanabalasundaram, L. Stevanato, J. Sinden & J.B. Phillips (2015) Production and Characterisation of Engineered Neural Tissue Made using CTX Human Neural Stem Cells. TERMIS World Congress, 8-11 September 2015, Boston, MA, USA
C. Murray-Dunning, L. Thanabalasundaram, A.G.E. Day, N. Vysokov, J. Sinden, L. Stevenato & J.B. Phillips (2015) Differentiated CTX human neural stem cells adopt a glial phenotype in RAFT-stabilised collagen hydrogels suitable for nerve tissue engineering. Tissue & Cell Engineering Society, 19-21 July 2015, Southampton, UK.
A.G.E. Day, K.S. Bhangra, C. Murray-Dunning, L. Thanabalasundaram, N. Grace, G. Cameron, L. Stevanato, J. Sinden & J.B. Phillips (2015) Hypothermic and cryogenic preservation of artificial neural tissue made using differentiated CTX human neural stem cells in collagen gels. Tissue & Cell Engineering Society, 19-21 July 2015, Southampton, UK.