Sarah Fraser (PhD student, 2000-2003)
Characterisation of Tissue Engineered Hyaline Cartilage
There is a great deal of expectation that tissue engineering will revolutionize medicine in the next decade and beyond. This expectation is based firmly on recent developments in cell biology, biomaterials science and clinical techniques. While it will ultimately affect most or all branches of medicine, certain tissues are more suitable than others for pioneering research with a good likelihood of clinical impact in the very near future.
Cartilage is one such tissue for a number of reasons that include the fact that it is synthesised by only one cell type, we have a good understanding of chondrocyte biology and there is an urgent clinical need for improved cartilage tissue repair. This PhD aims to compare and contrast the structure of engineered cartilage with natural tissue (both articular and nasal) at the level of both light and electron microscopy. Light level studies will include immunohistochemisty of the chondron (in particular, localisation of Type VI collagen).
Supervisor(s): Prof. Paul Hatton and Prof. Ian M Brook