ARI Activity Report 2020

5.3 Regenerative Orthopaedics Program Leader: Martin Stoddart, Deputy: Sibylle Grad Team Members: Gion Alig, Mauro Alini (Vice Director), Angela Armiento, Cecilia Bärtschi, Romain Bagnol, Valentina Basoli, Yamina Baumgartner, Elena Della Bella, Matteo D'Este, Nicolas Devantay, Nunzia Di Luise, Nicola Di Marzio, Janick Eglauf, David Eglin, Priscilla Füllemann, Pamela Furlong, Géraldine Guex, Surya Häne, Johannes Hasler, Phelipe Hatt, Joseph Hintermann, Marloes Hofstee, Hermann Kasper, Iris Keller-Stoddart, Nadine Kluser, William Lackington, Yann Ladner, Wenyue Li, Zhen Li, Junxuan Ma, Ursula Menzel, Gregor Miklosic, Graziana Monaco, Fintan Moriarty, Andrea Nüesch, Marianna Peroglio, Robert Peter, Virginia Post, Aapo Ristaniemi, Stijn Rotman, Andrea Schwab, Amra Sercovic, Tiziano Serra, Claudia Siverino, Astrid Soubrier, Christoph Sprecher, Flurina Staubli, Eric Sumrall, Keith Thompson, Win-Hon Trinh, Letizia Vainieri, Daphne van der Heide, Andrea Vernengo, Sophie Verrier, Alexandra Wallimann, Sylvie Wirth, Taiyo Yamamoto, Reihane Ziadlou, Daniele Zuncheddu Fellows: Paras Ahmad, Susanne Bärtl, Shangbin Cui, Jan Gewiess, Maria Antonia Gomez Sierra, Wei Hao, Walker Magrath, Céline Tourbier, Katie Young, Phenghui Zhang Guests: Melanie Acosta, Preeta Ananthanarayanan, Talita Aygün, Teresa Brose, Yanan Fu, Peng Guo, Chen Guoliang, Edera Marcello, Jiang Nan, Babak Saravi, Lisa Sturm, Hidaka Takuya, Tim Wesdorp 2020 was a year of big changes in the Regenerative Orthopaedics Program. After 20 hugely successful years of leadership under Prof Mauro Alini, Prof Martin Stoddart became the head of the Musculoskeletal Regeneration program. To reflect this change, and to reflect changes in research direction that were started many years ago, the program name was changed to Regenerative Orthopaedics and the program was restructured. Focus Area names were changed to better emphasize the research carried out by the teams and we welcomed the Infection Biology team to the Program. Furthermore, a new Focus Area based on Sound Induced Morphogenesis was established and provided on opportunity to retain the vast experience of Prof Alini as its leader. The Regenerative Orthopaedics Program develops biological approaches addressing pathologies of the musculoskeletal system, with a focus on bone, cartilage, and intervertebral disc. The ultimate goals are to identify strategies for prevention or attenuation of degenerative processes and to re-establish tissue functionality.

Bone Biology Focus Area Bone healing in response to fracture involves a complex sequence of dynamic events, directed by numerous different cell types and growth factors. A critical factor for bone repair is the maintenance, or effective restoration, of an adequate blood supply, which is necessary to provide the damaged tissue with oxygen, nutrients, and growth factors, as well as immune cells and mesenchymal stem cells required to repair the damage and induce new bone formation. Although bone generally has a high regenerative capacity, in some cases this inherent bone healing is compromised, which results in delaying healing or non-union of the bone fracture with increased health care costs and reduced quality of life issues for affected patients. While a variety of risk factors have been identified that predispose to an increased risk of developing delayed bone healing or non-union, it is currently not possible to identify specific at-risk patients at an early stage. Using in vitro and in vivo techniques, the aim of the Bone Regeneration Focus Area is to gain a greater understanding of the immunoregulation, cellular interactions and mediators and underlying mechanoregulation. By determining how cells such as immune cells, mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cells normally interact during the repair process, and how this process is altered during impaired healing, we can then identify key events in the healing process. Our goal is to use tissue engineering and regenerative medicine approaches to promote bone healing, aimed at restoring bone integrity and its effective biomechanical properties.

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