Platform Grant: Multiscale Mechanobiology for Tissue Engineering

我们身体中的许多组织，如软骨、肌腱和韧带，在我们活动时都承受着负荷，这些组织中的活细胞能够检测到负荷，并相应地改变它们的活动。这个过程被称为机械转导，它很重要，因为它能保持组织健康和正常运作。软骨、肌腱和韧带的损伤可能是由于受伤或关节炎等疾病造成的，从而导致疼痛和功能丧失。在许多情况下，组织在损伤后不能很好地修复，导致慢性疼痛。直到最近，这些患者的唯一选择可能是全关节置换术。对于年轻患者来说，这不是一个好的解决方案，因为大多数关节置换在需要更换之前只能持续10-15年。在过去的15年里，世界各地的许多团队一直在开发一种替代解决方案，其中涉及一种被称为组织工程的过程。组织工程通常涉及使用患者自身细胞和生物材料支架在实验室中创造一个新的、有功能的组织。新的组织可以植入病人体内修复损伤。当移植回病人体内时，新组织将被负荷，了解负荷如何影响细胞的活性是非常重要的。理想情况下，细胞应该以有益的方式对负荷作出反应，因此正常的锻炼和活动可以改善修复。事实上，在植入之前，使用生物反应器装置在实验室中加载组织可能是有益的。机械转导是非常复杂的，并没有得到很好的理解，因此需要更多的研究来了解这一过程，并最终改善基于组织工程的组织修复。在伦敦玛丽女王大学，我们已经研究了超过15年，最终目标是开发更好的基于组织工程的软骨、肌腱和韧带修复系统。我们的实验室设施非常好，我们汇集了来自不同背景的研究人员，包括工程师，材料科学家，生物学家和骨科医生。在这段时间里，我们已经开发并获得了许多非常成功的个人研究项目的资金。平台补助金将使我们能够进一步发展我们的研究并巩固我们目前的活动。这笔资金将确保我们能够留住研究小组的主要成员，并进行高风险的试点研究，以提高我们获得资金的机会。我们还将能够改善我们与世界各地参与这类研究的主要小组的合作联系。

Many tissues in our bodies, such as cartilage, tendon and ligaments are loaded as we move around and the living cells in the tissues are able to detect the loading and alter their activity in response. This process is called mechanotransduction and is important as it keeps the tissues healthy and functioning properly. Damage to cartilage, tendon and ligaments can occurs as a result of injury or through diseases such as arthritis, resulting in pain and loss of function. In many cases the tissues are not able to repair well following damage, causing chronic pain. Until recently the only option for these patients may be a total joint replacement. This is not good solution for younger patients as most joint replacements will only last for 10-15 years before they need to be replaced. Over the past 15 years many groups worldwide have been developing an alternative solution, involving a process know as tissue engineering. Tissue engineering typically involves the creation of a new, functioning tissue in the laboratory, using the patient's own cells and a biomaterial scaffold. The new tissue can be implanted into the patient to repair the damage. As the new tissue will be loaded when implanted back into the patient is very important to understand how loading will affect the activity of the cells. Ideally the cells should respond to the load in a beneficial manner, so that normal exercise and activity improves the repair. In fact it may be beneficial to load the tissue in the laboratory before implantation, using devices known as bioreactors. Mechanotransduction is very complex and not well understood and so more research is needed to understand the process and ultimately to improve tissue engineering-based tissue repair.At Queen Mary University of London we have been studying with the ultimate aim of developing better tissue engineering-based repair systems for cartilage, tendons and ligaments for over 15 years. Our laboratory facilities are very good and we have brought together a team of researchers from many different backgrounds, including engineers, materials scientists, biologists and orthopaedic surgeons. In that time we have developed and we have achieved funding for many individual research projects that have been very successful. The Platform Grant will allow us to develop our research further and underpin our current activity. The funding will ensure that we can retain key members of our research group and perform high-risk pilot studies to improve our chance to gaining funding. We will also be able to improve our collaborative links with the leading groups world-wide who are involved in this type of research.