11^th International Conference on Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine October 18-20, 2018 Hotel: Holiday Inn Rome Aurelia, Rome, Italy

Biography:

Dimitrios Lamprou PhD, MBA is Reader in Pharmaceutical Engineering and MSc Programme Director at the School of Pharmacy in Queen's University Belfast (UK; a member of the Prestigious Russell Group) and Visiting Researcher at University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK) with experience of teaching in higher education, conducting research (60+ publications, 200+ conference abstracts, 60+ Invited Presentations) and securing national and international funding (£2M+). He is Secretary at the United Kingdom and Ireland Controlled Release Society (UKICRS), external viva examiner for UK and international institutions (15+), and referees for journals (50+ Pharmaceutical and related), publishers and research funding bodies (10+). His group research interests focused on five distinct areas: Biosurface Engineering, Electrospinning, Microfluidics, Nanoanalysis, and Printing of Medicines.

Abstract:

The current mesh implants are composed of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Mesh implants have been widely used, but given the number of complications associated with mesh insertion, pursuing research for the development of a new generation of mesh inserts is now of the utmost importance for the future of patient care and recovery. Potential mesh-related complications include chronic infections, chronic pain and mesh rupture. Electrospun nanofibers offer advantages for a wide range of applications in a variety of fields, including biomedicine and biotechnology. The particular seminar will focus on the preparation of drug-loaded polymeric electrospun nanofibers for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications (e.g. hernia mesh implants). The purpose of this study is to examine any potential effects, chemical and mechanically, of drug-loaded electrospun nanofiber scaffolds. Biodegradable polyesters that commonly used in biomedical applications for controlled release and targeted drug delivery was loaded and electrospun with different types of drugs. The electrospun fibers were then characterized through various advanced characterization techniques (e.g. Bio-AFM, ToF-SIMS, NanoCT) and methods in order to measure the drug efficacy and antibacterial properties, and investigate any changes in mechanical and chemical properties and drug-polymer interactions

Biography:

Dimitrios Lamprou PhD, MBA is Reader in Pharmaceutical Engineering and MSc Programme Director at the School of Pharmacy in Queen's University Belfast (UK; a member of the Prestigious Russell Group) and Visiting Researcher at University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK) with experience of teaching in higher education, conducting research (60+ publications, 200+ conference abstracts, 60+ Invited Presentations) and securing national and international funding (£2M+). He is Secretary at the United Kingdom and Ireland Controlled Release Society (UKICRS), external viva examiner for UK and international institutions (15+), and referees for journals (50+ Pharmaceutical and related), publishers and research funding bodies (10+). His group research interests focused on five distinct areas: Biosurface Engineering, Electrospinning, Microfluidics, Nanoanalysis, and Printing of Medicines.

Abstract:

The session on “Thermal and electrohydrodynamic processes for Tissue Engineering Applications” includes the seminar on “Electrospun nanostructured scaffolds for tissue engineering applications” and this workshop which will be used as discussion on the recent growth interest for thermal and electrohydrodynamic processes (including fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing and electrospinning) for tissue engineering applications. 3D printing and electrospinning are examples of technologies that have been widely used in other industries, especially in the recent years, however are new to tissue engineering & regenerative medicine. The development of biocompatible systems for 3D printing and electrospun materials have been promising in the recent years for tissue engineering applications, which makes these techniques an attractive technology in the field. The purpose of this workshop is to familiarize participants with current thermal and electrohydrodynamic processes (e.g. 3D Printing, Bioprinting, Electrospinning), on the current additive manufacturing (AM) practices for biopolymers, on the modeling / finite element analysis (FEA) of AM systems, and about advanced surface characterization techniques.

Biography:

Yoshihisa Suzuki obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Kyoto University, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan during 1980-1986. Later he joined Kyoto University, Faculty of Medicine, Plastic Surgery Department as a Staff Member in June, 1986. In May 1987, he joined Osaka Red Cross Hospital as a Staff Member. He later held various positions as Staff Member (1990-1998), Assistant Professor (1998-1999) and Associate Professor (2000-2006) at Kyoto University, Faculty of Medicine, Plastic Surgery Department. From July 2006 to present, he is the Director, Department of Plastic Surgery at Kitano Hospital, Osaka. He is also a specially appointed Professor, Department of Plastic Surgery at Shiga University of Medical Science since 2015

Abstract:

Tubular artificial nerves are used to bridge the damaged peripheral nerves when end-to-end anastomosis is not possible. However, there are several limitations, including the need for a device of various diameters depending on the diameter of the nerve to be regenerated, and the inapplicability of the device to the damaged sites that are branched into a Y-shape. In order to overcome these limitations, we developed artificial nerve sheets made of alginate. Since they are sheets, they can be used with nerves of various diameters and with complex branches. Thus, we evaluated the use of the artificial nerve sheets in nerve regeneration. These sheets were created by covalent cross-linking of alginate, a polysaccharide derived from brown seaweed. First, we implanted the alginate sheet to bridge a 5-cm gap in the sciatic nerve of a cat and demonstrated nerve regeneration. In a clinical trial, we demonstrated that the sheets regenerated the human digital nerve. We then used the sheets to regenerate gaps in branched sites, which was not possible with the previous tubular artificial nerves. In this study, we used a rat model to create a nerve defect in the site where the sciatic nerve branched into the peroneal and tibial nerves. In this model, the alginate sponge-like sheets were implanted to bridge the nerve gap and led to nerve regeneration. Furthermore, we used a rat model of defects in the pelvic nerve plexus and cavernous plexus to evaluate the use of the sheets in defects in the nerve plexus where nerves form a network. In this experiment, we demonstrated that the implantation of the sheets improved urinary and erectile function of the rats. This finding suggested that the sheets may be used to prevent urinary dysfunction in patients undergoing uterine cancer surgery and erectile dysfunction in patients undergoing prostate cancer surgery

Biography:

Differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into organoids has been achieved via a plethora of modalities. One of the more common techniques includes developing multi-day culture strategies where morphogenesis and growth factors are added and removed to achieve different differentiation paradigms. This is limited by diffusion and penetration of these small molecules, as well as a uniform application of the signals. Although recent studies involving microfluidics and substrate patterning have achieved a degree of spatial resolution, engineering synthetic genetic programs to be executed within and across cells, promises more and enables spatiotemporal control of cellular differentiation. We have shown that these heterogeneous differentiation programs can yield production of all three germ layers which results in liver like and vascularized organoids. This work hopes to expand on what we have already shown with the development and application of a synthetic cell-cell communication tool box to employ heterogeneous differentiation programs to further organoid development. Synthetic cell-cell communication tools enhance and extend the design of multi-cellular frameworks for tissue construction and differentiation. It is these organotypic like structures, often called organoids that are making their way to the forefront in the development of personalized medicine. One way to program the needed differentiation for organoid maturation is to design multi-cellular circuits. In order to design these circuits capable of coordinated patterns formation one needs tools for cell-cell communication. These cell-cell communication systems are the tools we will need to engineer a better world. This work aims to construct cell-cell communication tools for the construction of programmable spatiotemporal patterns in mammalian cells. This includes the first mammalian synthetic circuit capable of producing its own diffusible signaling molecule that is orthogonal to the endogenous system. Implementation of heterogeneous differentiation programs has allowed for vascularization and development of iPCs derived organoids.

Abstract:

Katherine Kiwimagi has completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Colorado State University and is currently working on Postdoctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Bioengineering. Her published work is focused on the interplay of in silico, in vitro and in vivo studies where, she has developed both experimental and computational tools with applications in many biological systems. Her current work focuses on cell-cell communication tools for mammalian systems with the application of creating spatio-temporal patterns to directed organoid differentiation

Biography:

Abstract:

Large bone defects caused by injuries, bone loss, infected nonunions are still a major challenge in orthopaedic and trauma patients. Human bone tissue has both organic and inorganic components. It should also be noted that 95% of bone organic components is collagen I type. A large variety of collagen scaffolds has been used as carriers in bone tissue engineering approaches. However, collagen scaffolds have weak mechanical properties for tissue replacement applications, especially for bone regeneration. Although several alternatives have been proposed, no composite polymer material is yet available to promote effective bone regeneration. The ideal polymer scaffolds must stimulate bone regeneration. Hence, the goal of this study was to generate novel composite scaffolds for tissue engineering aimed at skull bone regeneration. More specifically, we combined polylactide scaffold, collagen gel, GP and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). The composite scaffold’s efficacy was evaluated based on in vitro cell cultivation and the ability of BMSCs to extra cellular matrix protein and osteocalcin synthesize, whereas its in vivo performance was evaluated based on experimental regeneration of skull bone defects in rabbits. Polylactide scaffolds with a pore size of 50-250 μm were fabricated. The biocompatibility of polylactide scaffolds was improved by collagen gel filling. It is shown that collagen gel and calcium glycerylphosphate promotes the accumulation of alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin by cells. Histological analysis after composite scaffolds with cells implantation in the bone defect of the rabbit clearly demonstrated the efficiency of bone regenerative processes.

Biography:

Tae Il Son completed his PhD degree in Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 1989. He is a Professor in the Department of Systems Biotechnology, Chung-Ang University. He was a Visiting Scholar at North Carolina State University, USA in 1998 and RIKEN, Japan in 2007. He has served as President of the Korean Society for Chitin and Chitosan. He is currently the Director of Biomaterial Field in the Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (KSIEC) in Republic of Korea. He has been involved in research for medical applications using natural polymer derivatives for over 30 years. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Growth factors such as EGF, TGF-beta, and BMP-2 affect various biological activities in the body. However, the application of biomedical applications is very limited because the physiological activity of the body is rapidly reduced due to its short half-life characteristic in the body. Thus, protein immobilization methods have been developed to overcome the low stability and high cost of growth factors. However, there are drawbacks to the methods that have been studied so far. As a typical example, a method using a chemical agent can produce a byproduct that can potentially cause denaturation of the immobilized protein. Also, when applied to proteins, it is difficult to immobilize them by the same chemical method because each amino acid residue is different. In order to solve these problems, a photo-curable natural polymer was prepared by introducing UV and visible reactive functional groups into natural polymers such as gelatin, chitosan and hyaluronic acid which have high biocompatibility and biodegradability. Photo-curable natural polymers incorporating photo-reactive groups have the property of being cured when irradiated with light of a specific wavelength such as UV and visible light. Using these characteristics, the team developed a photo-immobilization method that can immobilize proteins. Immobilization methods using photo-reactive functional groups on natural polymers having excellent biocompatibility and functionality as such are expected to be utilized in various fields in the medical field. Typical examples include scaffolds and implants, anti-adhesion agents, wound dressings, and bio-patches. In this study, we have developed a method of immobilization by introducing UV and visible light curing functional groups into various natural polymers and using curing properties in response to specific wavelengths. In this paper, we propose a new method to overcome the disadvantages of existing immobilization methods and apply them to a wider range of medical materials

Biography:

Sharon Mendel Williams has joined Coventry University as a Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences in 2014. She has worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in both departments of Chemistry and Biology at Warwick University. Her research focuses on biophysics and biochemistry of proteins, and understanding the mechanisms of enzymes. She has a wide range of experience in molecular biology, biochemistry and chemistry. She is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has been awarded a grant from the RSC research fund to accomplish her research work

Abstract:

Lignin is an organic polymer found in the cell walls of plants. Lignin can be used to create biofuels, or used as an organic hydrocarbon source for a large variety of chemicals and polymers. However, lignin is very robust and current industrial processes for using it are inefficient. Therefore, a useable biological process for degrading lignin would be of great benefit. Microbial degradation of lignin has been mainly studied in basidiomycete fungi: white-rot fungi such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium produce extracellular lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase enzymes that can oxidize lignin and some fungi produce extracellular lactases that can also attack lignin. Despite reports of bacterial oxidation of lignin until recently the enzymology of bacterial lignin breakdown was poorly understood. Using a colorimetric assay method, it has been reported a screening method for isolation of lignin-oxidizing bacterial strains from environmental soil samples. In the current project DyP-type peroxidases from gram-negative Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5 and different mutants were created around the Mn active site and cloned into E. coli. The expressed enzymes were purified and characterized and the kinetic parameters were measured with different substrates. Other reaction compounds were tested after mixing with lignin, hard wood and soft wood. The reaction compounds were analyzed by reverse phase HPLC/GC-MS. Some interesting results have been observed and will be presented in the conference. The goal is to improve the effectiveness of the enzymes, increase the production of the enzymes, or degrade the lignin into different and more useable compounds. Any of these goals would be of valuable scientific and commercial benefit.

Biography:

Zulqurnain Khan has completed his PhD in Biotechnology at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He is an Assistant Professor in Biotechnology in the Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology (IPBB) at MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan. He has been working in the field of genome editing in plants since 2012. He has published five research/review articles in international peer reviewed journals.

Abstract:

Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is one of the major factors for low yield of cotton in Pakistan. Engineering resistance in cotton cultivators against CLCuD through RNA-directed Cas9 is a powerful tool to tackle the viral disease in cotton. We have targeted coding and non-coding regions of viral DNA individually with Cas9 and dCas9 and found promising potential target sites for viral interference. On the basis of screening results of gRNAs tested in transient assay in N. benthamiana, we designed multiplex gRNA for targeting three most promising sites simultaneously with Cas9 and dCas9. We found that targeting non-coding regions of virus is more effective for virus suppression than targeting coding regions. In transient assay, we found 70-90% decrease in accumulation of virus. Stable transformation of cotton has been optimized with DsRED and transformation with multiplex gRNAs is under progress.

Biography:

Sarmad Frogh Arshad has completed his PhD from the Centre for Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB) at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. His research domain is Population Genetics and Association Mapping. He is working as an Assistant Professor at Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan. He has published more than two papers and one book chapter in reputed journals and he is designated as Biosafety Officer at MNSUAM on additional charge.

Abstract:

Association mapping analysis was performed on a set of 94 diverse sorghum genotypes to dissect the genetic background of biomass related traits. These genotypes were characterized with 23 and 19 SSR loci on chromosomes 6 and 9 respectively. 14 biomass related traits were evaluated under normal field conditions. Structure analysis yielded four admixture subpopulations with the help of 20 unlinked markers. The pairwise syntenic r2 ranged from 0.0000 to 0.502 on chromosome 6 and 0.0000 to 0.2305 for chromosome 9. LD extent was 10 Mb and 50 Kb for chromosome 6 and 9, respectively, with the critical value of 0.02. A total of seven markers trait associations were detected through mixed linear model approach and phenotypic variability ranged from 9.13 to 13.9% for chromosome 6 and 6.25 to 23.05% for chromosome 9. The marker Xgap07 was associated with days to 50% flowering and plant height on chromosome 6. While the markers SB3789 and xtxp265 exhibited association with leaf length and plant height, respectively on chromosome 6 for the two growing seasons. The SSR primer xtxp283 showed association with two different traits plant height and days to 50% flowering and SB5040 was found to be associated with leaf length on chromosome 9. The present study provided novel quantitative trait loci for biomass-related traits which can be utilized for marker assisted breeding for better biomass production in sorghum.