A gene-activated platform for tissue repair Growth factors play a central role in the mechanisms behind bone and cartilage regeneration, mechanisms which are disrupted in people suffering from arthritis. We spoke to Professor Christian Plank of the GAMBA project about their work in developing a geneactivated matrix platform for tissue repair and how it could improve treatment of the condition It is known that growth factors play a central role in many important mechanisms within the body, including bone and cartilage regeneration. This area forms the main research focus of the GAMBA project, which is aiming to develop a gene-activated matrix platform for tissue repair, taking into account the underlying nature of the repair process. “Usually it’s not one growth factor alone that induces tissue repair, but rather several growth factors in concerted action,” says Professor Dr Christian Plank, one of the project’s scientific initiators. The scientific question for the project, the nanotechnology part of their research, was whether a nano/ biotechnology approach could be used to get three growth factors into concerted action. “Is it possible to address the appearance and disappearance of growth factors; can we turn them on and off? And can we do this in different compartments?” continues Professor Plank. “One technical and therapeutic tool to do this is gene therapy – gene vectors. You can construct systems using gene vectors where you can switch gene expression on and off.”
Arthritis This research could have important implications for the treatment of arthritis.
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The body maintains a delicate balance between degrading and regenerating processes in our bones, tissue and cartilage, which is disrupted in people suffering from the condition. “In arthritis the natural healthy balance is out of regulation. For example, in bone you have osteoblasts – the bone cells which are important for the formation of bone – and osteoclasts, which eat bone, they degrade it. These two cell types are in balance in healthy bone. In arthritis the
Professor Plank. “It is known that inflammatory reactions are important causes for overwhelming degradation.” This type of research is an important element of the GAMBA project, yet the focus for Professor Plank and his colleagues is on basic research and developing a gene-activated matrix. The matrix is designed to carry gene vectors to damaged tissue and stimulate the regeneration process. “The other important role of the matrix is that it’s a
Is it possible to address the appearance and disappearance of growth factors; can we turn them on and off? And can we do this in different compartments? One technical and therapeutic tool to do this is gene therapy natural healthy balance is out of regulation and the degradation processes overwhelm the regenerative processes” explains Professor Plank. Research groups in GAMBA are working to identify the growth factors involved in arthritis, and to investigate the underlying causes of the condition. “There is still a lot to find out about the molecular causes of arthritis. One of the major questions is whether impaired regenerative potential is the cause of the disease, or whether other factors are also involved,” says
substrate for cells to grow in the matrix, while it’s also biodegradeable,” outlines Professor Plank. The matrix introduces one gene vector to regenerate bone, one to regenerate cartilage, and one to fight inflammation. “They are the three different targets that we have. They act in three different compartments within the joint,” says Professor Plank. “If you consider the knee joint, the lowest compartment would be the bone, which naturally is covered by cartilage. The cartilage faces the synovium, which is
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