Mesenchymal cell contribution in tissue regeneration and disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of the molecular mechanisms that regulate bone and cartilage regeneration and potential role in the pathophysiology of disease.
IRAS ID
319183
Contact name
Richard Webb
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christ Church University
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
This project is focused on investigating the ability of mesenchymal stem cells to generate bone cells (osteocytes) and cartilage cells (chondrocytes). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be found in the spongy bone at the ends of long bones, in bone marrow, in articular cartilage. The term MSCs describes a heterogeneous group of cells and can be divided into more homogeneous subgroups based on the presence of cell membrane proteins. One such protein is the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75-NTR), also known as CD271, which interacts with protein ligand molecules. This initiates a molecular signal that can alter the protein synthesis pattern of a cell and influence its function and fate. CD271 has been used to identify true MSCs that can generate bone and cartilage in a cell culture environment (in vitro) and in model animals (in vivo).
We aim to investigate first the regenerative potential of MSCs and in addition, their contribution to bone or cartilage disease.
We believe that our study will potentially reveal key steps in bone and tissue regeneration, and our findings can be applied to the development of treatment approaches aimed at bone or cartilage damage due to degeneration or injury.
Furthermore, investigation of the molecular component of bone and cartilage derived MSCs can reveal key disease progression characteristics and identify diagnosis or prognosis molecular markers.
In order to achieve our research objective, we will require a regular supply of primary human MSCs derived from bone, bone marrow, cartilage and tendon. For this purpose, we have identified the hip joint and the shoulder joint as ideal sources. Femur heads are removed during hip replacement operations, and humerus heads are removed during shoulder replacement operations. Both are considered waste material.
These will be obtained from planned surgeries and study participants will be recruited with the help of orthopaedic surgeons collaborating with this study.REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/1426
Date of REC Opinion
12 Dec 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion