Repair of skeletal muscle defects using fibrin micro-threads to deliver de-differentiated cells
Raymond L. Page, PhD
Large-scale soft tissue wounds such as those presented in combat and other trauma related injuries present poor prognoses and functional healing outcomes. Injuries of this type are especially difficult to repair due the complete loss of native tissue architecture, thus requiring regeneration of all cells required to reestablish a functional skeletal muscle unit. We have developed a straight-forward cell derivation system that when applied to human adult skeletal muscle cells, delays or suppresses spontaneous differentiation. To evaluate the functionality of cells derived in this manner, we have developed biopolymer microthread-based scaffold systems to aid in the orientation of progenitor cell alignment for replacement of lost skeletal muscle tissue. Current progress toward replacement of skeletal muscle using an approach combing a longitudinally oriented degradable scaffold seeded with de-differentiated primary cells will be presented.
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