HT chemical manipulation of foetal and adult stem cells - selection transfection and scaffold identification

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The cells we will study, so-called Mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow, are very special as they have the potential to form a variety of tissue types such as cartilage, bone, muscle, tendon, ligament and fat. For this reason stem cells are currently one of the most exciting and promising areas for disease treatment and reparative medicine and in the future this will allow stem cell-based therapies to be developed to treat or cure diseases. Given the fact that we have an ageing population, the development of strategies to exploit stem cells to allow bone formation or the replacement or restoration of diseased or worn-out bone is a major clinical and socio-economic need. However crucial issues to allow this approach to be successful are the development of methods to allow the purification of stem cells to provide sufficient cells for tissue regeneration, and the development of tools to allow the cells to be controlled and converted into the specific cells desired. There is also a need to allow 3D scaffolds to be built to allow stem cell growth to form selected tissues. This programme of research offers a unique opportunity to identify select populations and population subsets, modulate differentiation and provide appropriate scaffolds for 3D skeletal reconstruction and bone formation.