Caitriona O’Rourke, Adam Day, Celia Murray-Dunning, Lavaniya Thanabalasundaram, Joseph Cowan, Lara Stevanato, Ned Grace, Grant Cameron, Rosemary Drake, John Sinden and James Phillips
Scientific Reports
Artificial tissues constructed from therapeutic cells offer a promising approach for improving the treatment of severe nerve injuries. However, there are serious challenges associated with finding a source of cells to use for this kind of nervous system regenerative medicine.
In this study, UCL researchers worked with industry partners at ReNeuron and Sartorius Stedim Biotech to build living artificial nerve tissue using clinical grade human neural stem cells. The feasibility of using this approach was tested in a preclinical model to see whether the engineered neural tissue (EngNT) could support regeneration following nerve injury.
The EngNT supported neuronal regeneration across a gap in a nerve injury model, providing measurable recovery of motor and sensory function. This showed for the first time that a clinically-validated neural stem cell line could be used to construct functional living artificial nerve tissue. This provides a potential ‘off-the-shelf’ tissue engineering solution for the treatment of nerve injury.
Next steps will involve optimising the cell and material components of the technology in order to progress through the final stages of translation to first-in-human testing.
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