| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/N64878/01 |
| Title: |
SOLUBLE GLASS FIBRES FOR THE TREATMENT OF MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY |
| Principal Investigator: |
Olsen, Professor I |
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| Department: |
Eastman Dental Institute |
| Organisation: |
UCL |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
03 September 2001 |
Ends: |
02 September 2004 |
Value (£): |
164,266
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Medical science & disease |
Tissue Engineering |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Few materials are available for the effective regeneration of soft connective tissues. Phosphate-based glasses and fibres offer great potential as they are soluble and furthermore, the solubility can be accurately and predictably controlled by modifying the chemical composition. Moreover, the highly polymeric structure of these 'soluble' glasses can orientate parallel to the pulling direction, making excellent fibres which could be of real value in helping to engineer new tissues, particularly soft connective tissue such as muscle. In preliminary experiments we have observed that normal murine muscle cells can attach, grow and differentiate on these fibres in tissue culture. Most importantly, the cell-seeded glass fibres can give rise to elevated levels of regenerated healthy new muscle after transplantation into recipient (mdx) mice which have the equivalent of human Duchenne muscular dystrophy. (DMD), the most frequently-occurring human genetic disease. This initial work, carried out in collaboration with the internationally recognised Muscle Research Group at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre headed by Professor Terence Partridge, suggest that these soluble glass fibres have great potential value for engineering new soft connective tissue and, further, that the mdx mouse is an ideal model for invesitgating and optimising these clinically beneficial new materials.
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Key Findings |
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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