Repair & Regeneration
In the United States, there are approximately 75,000 new brain injuries and 11,000 new spinal cord injuries reported every year. Currently, there are very few, if any, effective treatments for the complex set of pathological events that ensue. Although cell transplantation has been proposed and tested in both research and clinical scenarios, cell survival is typically poor and functional recovery is variable. One of our research thrust areas is to apply tissue engineering strategies to develop effective treatments for traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.
In general, tissue engineering involves the use of living cells, manipulated through their extracellular environment for the purpose of repairing, replacing, maintaining, or enhancing the function of a particular tissue or organ. Our group is researching approaches to enhance the survival and integration of cell transplants in order to promote repair and regeneration of the traumatically injured brain and spinal cord, and ultimately to enhance functional recovery.
Specifically, we aim to combine neural stem cells (which can differentiate into the major cell types of the central nervous system) with an extracellular matrix protein-based scaffold for minimally invasive delivery into the irregular shaped lesions that form after a traumatic insult. We have several integrated research projects to optimize the various levels of this tissue engineering treatment strategy. They include studying the neural stem cells in vitro and exploring alternative cell sources, engineering novel biopolymers that could be utilized in a scaffold, and investigating cell or tissue engineered construct transplants in vivo in models of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury.
Collaborators:
Relevant Publications
- Shoichet, M.S., Tate, C.C., Baumann, M.D., LaPlaca, M.C. Strategies for Regeneration and Repair in the Injured CNS. Chapter in Indwelling Neural Implants: Strategies for Contending with the In Vivo Environment Frontiers in Neuroengineering Ed. W.M. Reichert, CRC Press, 2008.
- Tate, C.C., Garcia, A.J., LaPlaca, M.C. Plasma Fibronectin is Neuroprotective Following Traumatic Brain Injury Experimental Neurology 207: 13-22, 2007.
- Cullen, D.K., Stabenfeldt, S.E., Simon, C.M., Tate, C.C., LaPlaca, M.C. An In Vitro Neural Injury Model for Optimization of Tissue Engineered Constructs Journal of Neuroscience Research 85(16):3642-51, 2007.
- Tate, C.C., Tate, M.C., LaPlaca, M.C. Fibronectin and Laminin Increase in the Mouse Brain Following Controlled Cortical Impact Injury Journal of Neurotrauma 24(1): 226-230, 2007.
- Stabenfeldt, S.E., García, A.J., and LaPlaca, M.C. Thermoreversible Laminin-Functionalized Hydrogel for Neural Tissue Engineering, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research A 77(4):718-2, 2006.
- Tate, M.C, García, A.J., Keselowsky, B.G., Schumm, M.A., Archer, D.R., LaPlaca, M.C. Specific beta1 integrins mediate neural stem cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation on laminin and fibronectin Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience 27: 22-31, 2004.
- Shear, D., Tate, M., Archer, D., Hoffman, S., Hulce, V., LaPlaca, M., Stein, D. Neural stem cell transplants promote long-term functional recovery after traumatic brain injury Brain Research 1026:11-22, 2004.
- Tate, M.C., D.A. Shear, S.W. Hoffman, D.G. Stein, D.R. Archer, M.C. LaPlaca (2002). "Fibronectin promotes survival and migration of primary neural stem cells transplanted into the traumatically injured mouse brain." Cell Transplant 11 (3): 283-95 .
- Tate, M.C., D.A. Shear, S.W. Hoffman, D.G. Stein, M.C. LaPlaca (2001). "Biocompatibility of methylcellulose-based constructs designed for intracerebral gelation following experimental traumatic brain injury." Biomaterials 22 (10): 1113-23.