STTR Phase II: Stem Cell Delivery in Microscopic Hydrogel Droplets for Faster and More Complete Healing of Equine Tendon and Ligament Injuries

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响涉及技术的持续开发，以延长基于细胞的组织再生疗法的治疗窗口。这项技术可以显著提高对细胞疗法的科学理解，并使损伤的愈合比现有技术更快，侵入性更低。一个显着的需要，这项技术已被确定在竞争马市场。相当一部分（98%）的竞技马患有软组织损伤，超过80%的这些马发展肌腱或韧带损伤。这些损伤可能需要数年时间才能愈合，并且是错过表演的主要原因-大大降低了动物的生活质量，通常需要安乐死。这对马主和兽医来说是一个重要的情感和经济痛点。正在开发的技术提供了一种解决方案，为兽医提供了一种以比目前更快，更持久的方式愈合肌腱和韧带损伤的方法，从而减少了错过的表演，减少了对动物安乐死的需求，并显着减少了收入损失。这项技术在马市场的初步实施预计将导致随后的产品商业化，以改善人类骨科损伤的愈合。 这个项目解决了优秀马运动员浅指屈肌腱（SDFT）损伤愈合缓慢和频繁再损伤的问题。很大一部分（98%）的兽医使用干细胞注射来帮助这些损伤的恢复，然而，由于注射细胞的活力差和损伤部位的细胞保留时间短，这种策略的疗效有限。该问题通过该技术来解决，以通过在惰性的可注射水凝胶微粒中递送来将间充质干细胞（MSC）保存和定位在损伤部位。研究目的有两个：1）与常规未包封的MSC相比，检查用包封的MSC治疗的SDFT损伤的马模型中的早期愈合指标，以及2）使用相同模型检查长期愈合指标。这项研究的目标是提供两个关键客户需求的证据：更快的组织愈合和更持久的SDFT损伤组织再生。功能、组织学、遗传学和生物力学指标将用于评估实验结果，预计结果将直接导致在精英马运动员中进行临床试验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project involves continued development of technology to extend the therapeutic window of cell-based tissue regeneration therapies. This technology could significantly enhance the scientific understanding of cellular therapies and enable the healing of injuries more rapidly and less invasively than current techniques. A significant need for this technology has been identified in the competition horse market. A significant fraction (98%) of competitive horses suffers from soft tissue injuries and more than 80% of these horses develop a tendon or ligament injury. These injuries can take years to heal and are the leading cause of missed performances— drastically reducing quality of life for the animal and often necessitating euthanasia. This is a significant emotional and financial pain-point for horse owners and veterinarians. The technology being developed offers a solution by providing veterinarians a means of healing tendon and ligament injuries in a faster and more durable manner than currently possible, resulting in fewer missed performances, reduced need for animal euthanasia, and significantly reducing earning losses. Initial implementation of this technology in the equine market is expected to result in the subsequent commercialization of products to improve the healing of orthopedic injuries in humans. This project addresses the slow healing and frequent reinjury of superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injuries in elite equine athletes. A significant fraction (98%) of veterinarians uses stem cell injections to aid in recovery of these injuries, however, this strategy has limited efficacy due to poor viability of injected cells and short cell retention times at the site of injury. This problem is addressed by this technology to preserve and localize mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at an injury site through delivery in inert, injectable hydrogel microparticles. The research objectives are twofold: 1) examine early healing metrics in an equine model of SDFT injury treated with encapsulated MSCs compared to conventional unencapsulated MSCs, and 2) examine long term healing metrics using the same model. The goal of this research is to provide evidence of two key customer needs: faster tissue healing and more durable tissue regeneration of SDFT injuries. Functional, histological, genetic, and biomechanical metrics will be used to assess experimental outcomes and the results are anticipated to lead directly to a clinical trial in elite equine athletes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.