Category: Publications

We’ve had several publications this year that we’re excited to tell you about! The last few months have been especially eventful.

• In May, Zack & Aasim’s paper about their gelatin fibers came out: Processing Variables of Direct-Write, Near-Field Electrospinning Impact Size and Morphology of Gelatin Fibers. Biomedical Materials. 16: 045017, 2021. doi:10.1088/1748-605X/abf88b, PMID: 33857922

• Danielle’s FEBio Paper (working Kate Saul’s lab in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department) came out in September: Finite Element Modeling to Study Musculoskeletal Growth: A Comparison of Node and Element-Based Approaches. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. 144(1): 011001, 2022. doi:10.1115/1.4051661, PMID: 34227653

• Lewis put out a paper relating to research with MTJ hydrogels: Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels Promote Expression of Muscle-Tendon Junction Proteins. Tissue Engineering: Part A. Electronically published, November 2021. doi:10.1089/ten.TEA.2021.0070, PMID: 34375125

• Another paper from Stephanie Cone research’s was also published in November: Age- and Sex-Specific Differences in ACL and ACL Bundle Size During Adolescent Growth. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. Electronically published, November 2021. doi:10.1002/jor.25198, PMID: 34727387

• Danielle published not one, but TWO more papers on her work: Sex-Specific Biomechanics and Morphology of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament During Skeletal Growth in a Porcine Model. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. Electronically published, November 2021. doi:10.1002/jor.25207, PMID: 34751996  and Age and Sex-Specific Joint Biomechanics in Response to Partial and Complete ACL Injury in the Porcine Model. Journal of Athletic Training. Electronically published, December 29 2021. DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-565-21

We have a couple other papers in review, so fingers crossed for a good start to 2022!

Latest Research on Animal Models in Regenerative Medicine Featured in Upcoming Special Issue of Tissue Engineering

New Rochelle, NY, October 24, 2017—Novel approaches to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are first evaluated and optimized in animal models before making the leap to clinical testing in human subjects. For many of these innovative new techniques and materials to succeed and advance to the clinic, the selection of an appropriate animal model and design of the experiments to gauge performance and outcomes can determine whether a particular approach, and the field in general, continue to move forward. A special issue devoted to the latest research on using animal models in regenerative medicine research is forthcoming in Tissue Engineering, Part C, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Select articles from the issue are now available online on the Tissue Engineering website.

Guest Editors Jorge Piedrahita, PhD, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, and J. Koudy Williams, DVM, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC oversaw the development of the special issue. They compiled a series of outstanding papers on diverse topics contributed by leading researchers. These include the article entitled “Inflammation-Induced Osteogenesis in a Rabbit Tibia Model,” in which F. Cumhur Öner, MD, PhD, et al., University Medical Center Utrecht, Delft University of Technology, and Utrecht University, The Netherlands, examined the inflammatory responses to bacterial infection that can promote bone formation. The researchers showed that the inflammatory response caused by exposure to Staphylococcus aureus antigens, in the absence of bacterial infection, could stimulate bone growth and might be a useful strategy in bone regenerative medicine.

In the article “Rise of the Pigs: Utilization of the Porcine Model to Study Musculoskeletal Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering During Skeletal Growth,” Matthew Fisher, PhD and coauthors from North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC School of Medicine, present the unique opportunities and challenges for using pigs as translational models in the development of musculoskeletal regenerative medicine approaches. In particular, the researchers describe the advantages porcine models offer for studying biomechanics.

Johan Lammens, MD, PhD and coauthors from University Hospitals KU Leuven, KU Leuven, Medanex Clinic (Diest), and University of Liège, Belgium, caution that techniques for repairing large bone defects developed in the laboratory will only ultimately be successful in humans if the preclinical studies are performed in a reliable animal model using a bone defect of sufficient size created by following well-defined methods. They share their perspectives in the article entitled “Warning About the Use of Critical-Size Defects for the Translational Study of Bone Repair: Analysis of a Sheep Tibial Model.”

“This special issue emphasizes not only the need for appropriate animal models to increase our understanding and knowledge, but also for the final clinical application of regenerative medicine-based products,” says Methods Co-Editor-in-Chief John A. Jansen, DDS, PhD, Professor and Head, Department of Biomaterials, Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands.

We’ve been busy over the summer here in the TORL. We’ve recently had two papers published. One from our grad student, Stephanie C and Paul, and one that was a collaboration with members of Robert Mauck’s lab at UPenn (where Matt did his post-doc).

 

Check out the one from Stephanie and Paul (and Matt), called “Rise of the Pigs” here.  It’s a review of the use of a porcine model for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) research.

 

The other paper, found here, focuses on subchondral bone remodeling following various types of injury and repair approaches.

A paper from our lab’s research into orientation changes in the cruciate ligaments was recently published in the Journal for Orthopaedic Research.

 

The paper, first authored by Stephanie Cone, demonstrates that a pig model exhibits the same changes in the angles of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in the knee relative to the tibial plateau throughout growth as results previously found in human female patients. This has important implications for better understanding pediatric knee growth and injuries going forward.

 

The article, titled “Orientation changes in the cruciate ligaments of the knee during skeletal growth: A porcine model” results from an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Jorge Piedrahita from the NC State Comparative Medicine Institute, Sean Simpson from the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences at NC State,  as well as Dr. Jeff Spang in the Department of Orthopeadics and Dr. Lynn Fordham from the Department of Radiology and at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill. Funding was provided by the NCI Cancer Center, National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.

 

The NC State Bulletin also covered the research in a recent article.

A paper from TORL on 3D printed scaffolds was recently accepted!

The paper, first authored by Paul Warren, describes how spaces within the scaffold influence the organization of new matrix made by cells.  This has implications for developing replacements for musculoskeletal tissues, which feature aligned matrix, such as the knee meniscus, ligaments, and tendons.

The paper, entitled “Engineering 3D-Bioplotted scaffolds to induce aligned extracellular matrix deposition for musculoskeletal soft tissue replacement“, was accepted to to Connective Tissue Research.  This project is a result of an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Rohan Shirwaiker in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at NC State and Dr. Jeff Spang in the Department of Orthopeadics at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill.  Funding was provided by the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science and the North Carolina State University Comparative Medicine Institute.

Congrats All!

Link to article at journal website.