Transcriptome Interrogation of Stem Cell-Based Gene Therapy for Osteoporosis

Funding or Partner Organisation: The Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation L (Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation Proje)

Start year: 2016

Summary: Fractures in elderly osteoporotic patients represent a challenge to surgical treatment due to the difficulty in obtaining a stable implant fixation due to the presence of osteoporotic bone. Thus innovative approaches are urgently required. Bone graft substitutes with osteogenic factors alone often exhibit poor bone regeneration due to inadequate vascularisation. This study will combine the complementary expertise of Dr Joshua Chou, a UTS Biomaterial and Tissue Engineer specialising in the use of marine structures as a precursor for bone replacement and carriers for drug delivery systems and Dr Rose Martiniello-Wilks a UTS Stem Cell and Gene Technologist. Together, they will evaluate the effects of non-virally gene modified BMSC that secrete osteogenic and angiogenic factors, combined with coral biomimetics, on the repair of osteoporosis and bone defects in mice with an intact immune system mimicking the human situation currently used in Dr Wilks¿ lab. The BMSC transcriptome will be interrogated to improve bone regeneration analysis. To do this microarrays and downstream large data analysis will be utilised and are a focus of this funding request. It is anticipated this multi-modal approach will provide a safe, effective and minimally invasive approach for clinical trial in the elderly.

FOR Codes: Health Related to Ageing, Regenerative Medicine (incl. Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering), Regenerative medicine (incl. stem cells)