Nerve injuries are debilitating, causing loss of movement and sensation, and recovery can be slow, painful and often incomplete. When nerves are badly damaged, for example through a traumatic injury, often the only treatment option available is nerve grafting where healthy nerve tissue is taken from elsewhere in the patient and surgically implanted to bridge the gap. This ‘autograft’ approach can support regeneration, but involves destroying healthy nerves and the amount of donor tissue is limited.

Researchers in the UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering (CNE) based at the UCL School of Pharmacy have developed an ‘off-the-shelf’ replacement tissue which mimics the main features of a nerve graft. The living replacement nerve tissue is known as ‘EngNT’ (engineered neural tissue) and is an example of an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP), a new class of medicine based on cell and gene therapy.

Diagram showing how EngNT provides a bridge of aligned therapeutic cells, which support and guide regenerating neurons across a gap in a damaged nerve

Image: Diagram showing how EngNT provides a bridge of aligned therapeutic cells, which support and guide regenerating neurons across a gap in a damaged nerve.

In this latest study published by the UCL team, EngNT was tested in a rat nerve injury model that simulates the most challenging type of human nerve damage. The EngNT was compared to a standard autograft treatment and showed equivalent performance, using a comprehensive set of techniques to measure tissue regeneration and restoration of function.

James Phillips, Professor of Regenerative Medicine said “The engineered tissue worked just as well as the autograft, which is the current standard clinical treatment, even when we tested it in this challenging critical-length nerve gap model. Using an artificial tissue provides a way to avoid the damage and limitations associated with using an autograft to repair a damaged nerve, so this is a very promising result.”

The team will continue to work with CNE colleagues and the UCL spinout company Glialign Ltd to progress EngNT technology through manufacturing and regulatory steps to clinical translation as an ATMP to treat people with injured nerves.

Further Information: