Engineering fully functional, integrated skeletal muscle

对生物活性制剂进行非动物试验的需求日益迫切。在英国的工业、政府机构和医疗保健研究领域。目前，来自组织和细胞工程的新研究正在生成越来越复杂形式的简单三维模型组织（可能是人类），这些组织可以在实验室中开发。这些模型现在可以为我们提供机会，通过取代传统的动物实验来监测整个组织对挑战（例如有毒化学物质）的反应。关键是首先开发简单的个体组织模型，然后结合不同的模型来生成正常组织的复杂性。我们在实验室开发了简单的肌肉和神经的三维个体模型，使用胶原蛋白或纤维蛋白作为支撑材料；这些都是自然产生的蛋白质。我们现在建议将这些模型结合起来，在实验室中培育出一种带有神经末梢的3D肌肉，以测试各种药物和化学物质的效果，以取代传统的动物试验。我们的任务是评估这种复杂的模型是否可以开发出来，并测试它将来是否能够取代动物试验。最终目的是在较少使用动物的情况下进行更好的测试。

There is an urgent and growing need for non-animal testing of biologically active agent?s across UK industry, government agencies and healthcare research. Currently, new research from tissue & cell engineering is generating increasingly complex forms of simple 3-Dimensional model tissues (potentially ?human?), which can be developed in the laboratory. These models can now provide us the opportunity to monitor how whole tissue responds to challenges (e.g. toxic chemicals) by replacing conventional animal testing. The key to this is first developing simple individual tissue models and then combining different models to generate normal tissue complexity. We have developed in our laboratories simple 3 dimensional individual models of muscle and nerve using collagen or fibrin as a support material; these are both naturally occurring proteins. We now propose to combine these models and develop a 3D muscle with nerve endings, grown in the laboratory, to test the effect of various drugs and chemicals for potential human use replacing traditional testing on animals. Our remit will be to assess whether this complex model can be developed and test if it will be able to replace animal testing in the future. The final aim is better testing with less use of animals.