McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Transcription

"We view ourselves as pioneers." "The thing that I love the most about working at the McGowen Institute is that you never know what will happen tomorrow." "The reason we're successful is because we get to work on things that most people think are not possible." Pioneers and possibilities. The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. It's a new way of treating injuries and diseases. that uses cells, tissue scaffolds, or artificial organs to help the body's own healing process. It requires a multi-disciplinary approach: biologists, chemists, computer scientists, engineers, physicians, experts in medicine, robotics, genetics, and other fields as needed. More than 230 faculty members in all to solve some of the most challenging medical problems on the planet. "We have all these different brilliant minds out there working on these different problems. I can't tell you which ones are going to be successful, but I know if you wanna catch a fish, it's a lot more powerful having 230-plus lines in the water than two." As in a symphony orchestra, the best of regenerative medicine can only be achieved by researchers bringing different skill sets to work together for a common purpose. To date, millions of patients have been help with regenerative medicine-based technologies, using tissue engineering, cell-based therapies, and medical devices, and the future possibilities are exciting. In addition, the Institute is committed to clinical translation: moving technologies from the bench to the bedside and to patients in need. Ron Strang and Matt Uram are two of those patients. Matt Uram was standing next to a small bonfire when someone threw a cup of gasoline onto the flames. The force of the flash knocked him to the ground. "And I can see my arm; it just looked like it was all covered with dirt, I mean, but it was burnt skin - like a piece me of meat that was left on the grill." Matt was left with first and second degree burns on his right arm, shoulder, ear, and face. A team of McGowan affiliated faculty, working with cellular therapies, harvesting some Matt's own healthy skin cells, mixed them in a solution and using a computerized spray gun sprayed the liquid onto his wounds. This is Matt Uram today. "It started right here and was the whole width of my arm, all the way up here. and here. And then it went up my neck and the right side of my face." The therapy is still experimental, and only potentially applicable for first or second degree burns less than a few weeks old, but all you have to do is look at Matt Uram to know the approach is promising. On patrol in Afghanistan, Ron Strang turned around to warn the soldier behind him to watch his step. That's when the IED exploded. "I remember looking down and seeing my leg splayed open I could see all the way down to the bone. All the muscle and tissue is removed." Ron's quad muscle was severely damaged. Multiple surgeries and years later, he was struggling. Enter a group of collaborating experts and a revolutionary concept using tissue engineering. Step 1: start with the bladder of a pig and remove all the cells. What's left is a scaffold called extracellular matrix. Step 2: a surgical team led by Dr. Peter Rubin implants the scaffold where the quad muscle was lost. Step 3: the scaffold attracts cells from Ron's body to form new tissue. With the cell signaling in the scaffold - coupled with rigorous rehabilitative therapy - the newly formed tissue becomes functional muscle. "I think that was just such an innovative team approach because from the onset, you have the surgeon, you have the regenerative medicine scientists, you have the rehabilitation specialists, all sitting at the table, all working together putting their very different perspectives together for this common goal of how can we maximize the functional benefit for this individual." And maximize they did. Today Ron Strang is well on the mend and improving every day. Ron's therapy is part of a multi-patient clinical study. At the conclusion of this study, the broad applicability of this therapy can be fully assessed. "I got a lot of my life back. I am able to move around and get out and do the things I love again." Ron's success and Matt's recovery are just the tip of the iceberg for what's ahead in regenerative medicine. Transplantation is the only therapy for end-stage liver failure. Imagine if you could create a liver elsewhere in the body. Initial research has shown that after injecting liver cells into a lymph node there is liver function from the treated lymph node, possibly avoiding the need for a liver transplant. Today, there is a shortage of organs, and some organs are not suitable for transplant. Research is showing that profusing a harvested organ with an oxygen carrying solution during transportation can significantly increase the acceptable time interval to implantation and also enhance the viability of the organ. Current therapies are not effective in repairing nerve damage when the gap in the damaged nerve is longer than three centimeters. The development of a tissue-engineered nerve guide is addressing this need. Progress is also being made in the application of regenerative therapies for damaged and diseased cartilage, such as in the treatment of osteoarthritis. The researchers developing a cell-based injectable scaffold, which - when injected as a fluid - is designed to fill and repair the defective areas and to restore joint mobility. For severely fractured bone, surgeons used metallic screws or plates to hold the bone in place until healing is complete. Today, metallic parts implanted in the body remain for the life of the patient. Researchers are developing biodegradable and biocompatible fixtures so that these devices can be replaced by healthy tissue after healing. And it's important to keep in mind that while many studies are still in the early phases, the possibilities are exciting; especially so, with the ongoing research that could lead to whole organ engineering, an area where so many people are in need and on lists - waiting for transplants: liver, heart, kidneys, lungs. "That's a tremendous worldwide problem. Most patients die on a waiting list. So if we can take the same technology and convert it to whole organ engineering, just imagine the difference we could make in the practice of medicine." Already several technologies developed by McGowan faculty are making a difference, as they've transitioned from the laboratory to clinical use and commercial availability. Scott Morley is a biomedical engineer who heads product management at ALung, a company started with technologies developed by McGowan faculty. The ALung system, which is a type of respiratory dialysis, helps patients with severe breathing problems get more oxygen into their bloodstreams. "As an institute, we have every resource we need for full translational medicine and in really getting things to the point, products to the point, where they can be spun out to a company." Another success story: tissue glue, a surgical adhesive adapted from technology developed by McGowan affiliated faculty. It works to speed healing and reduce the need for post-operative drains after some surgical procedures. And McGowan faculty had developed a tissue-engineered putty that is able to generate new bone from within the body. The applications for the putty could include repair of complex bone fractures, cranial facial injuries, and even dental structures. Dr. Hal Wrigley, who heads the spin-out company Formabone, is moving the bone putty technology from the lab to clinical use. He is especially excited by the potential benefit of helping to treat wounded warriors. "I was a Green Beret in Viet Nam. I experienced first-hand what happens with traumatic injuries, and to think that somehow Formabone can help heal these wounds and grow back bone. Coupled along with the muscle regeneration that's been developed here at McGowan, this is really a passion for me." The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine: an internationally recognized center of excellence, developing and delivering the future, educating generations of scientists and clinicians, and moving discoveries from the lab into life. "Success can be measured by other things: how many papers have been published, how many grants that you get, or whatever. But really there's nothing that beats us being able to say that there have been literally millions of patients that have been treated because of the technology that started in this laboratory. That's the most fun part the job." The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine: a program of the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC.