L1 - Introduction

Question 1

Define regenerative medicine

Answer 1

A broad field that includes tissue engineering but also incorporates research on self-healing - where the body uses its own systems, sometimes with help from foreign biological materials, to recreate cells and rebuild tissues and organs

Question 2

What is tissue engineering?

Answer 2

A multidisciplinary field aimed at development of biological substitutes to restore, maintain or improve tissue function

Question 3

What are the clinical needs for RM/TE?

Answer 3

Surgical recon - complications and morbidity at donor site
Mechanical devices - only support, don’t grow with tissue
Transplants - need for immunosuppressants, ‘the transplantation crisis’

Question 4

How do we build a tissue?

Answer 4

Cells, biomaterials/scaffold and bioactive material all need to be taken into consideration

Question 5

What study was carried out by Cao et al?

Answer 5

Grew ear on the back of the mouse - evaluated feasibility of growing TE cartilage in the shape of an ear
Scaffold: plaster mould of 3-year-old ear
Cells: Bovine chondrocytes
Drawbacks: no skin coverage, not human cells, weak scaffold, implications on growth of ear