Tissue engineering approaches to treat COPD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A tissue engineering approach to improve lung function and clinical outcome in patients with COPD
IRAS ID
204469
Contact name
Mohammed Haris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is ranked as the third leading global cause of death with an annual associated healthcare cost of £1.3 trillion. COPD is associated with a progressive loss of lung function as a result of chronic bronchitis and emphysema leading eventually to respiratory failure. Current therapies primarily attempt to relieve the symptoms of the disease but do not address the underlying tissue destruction.
This project aims to characterise lung tissue properties from individuals (30 participants in total) with and without COPD. We will also isolate and characterise the cells from their lung tissue, including identifying and quantifying the recently identified distal airway stem cells (DASCs). The tissue used in the study will be obtained from surplus lung tissue following planned surgical interventions (tumour revision and lung volume reduction surgery) with the aim of using the resultant information to produce in vitro tissue engineered lung equivalents (TELEs) with the potential for use as in vitro lung tissue models and tissue engineering-based COPD/emphysema therapies in the future.
All participants will be recruited from patients scheduled to undergo surgery at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and all tissue used in the study will be surplus material. Participation will not alter the medical management that any participant receives, all samples will be anonymised and the participant is not required to participate any further in the study following tissue donation. The laboratory research aspects of the study will take place at Keele University’s Guy Hilton Research Centre facility.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0447
Date of REC Opinion
25 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion