Engineered Cartilage Instead of Prostheses
With $6.7m in funding from the NIH, Case Western Reserve University is creating a Center for Multimodal Evaluation and Engineering Cartilage. Its aims are: “1) Develop imaging methods, focusing on microRNA that regulates and maintains cell differentiation, to track the state of the cartilage tissue through the process; 2) Use modified cells as probes, develop methods to analyze cell differentiation, and develop tools to predict the extracellular matrix composition—which influences cell differentiation and cartilage properties—based on matrix remodeling during tissue growth; 3) Develop technologies to evaluate the biochemical environment, which plays a major role in the successful or unsuccessful conversion of stem cells into cartilage and reproduction and growth of cartilage cells; and 4) Develop technologies to evaluate the mechanical properties of engineered cartilage, to determine whether the tissue can withstand the pressures and maintain a surface that enables bone to slide smoothly within a joint.” MORE
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