Abstract:
Peripheral nerve injuries are common and although regeneration is possible, axonal damage is often too significant. Surgical intervention is therefore required in order for any functional sensation to be regained. Although the gold standard for peripheral nerve repair is autografting there are major disadvantages here, including a lack of donor nerve or donor site morbidity. The high level of cell death and lack of coherent orientation of regenerating axons without surgical intervention has lead to therapies using nerve guidance conduits (NGCs), especially for short gap injuries. In the simplest form NGCs are hollow tubes that act as a physical guide between the proximal and distal stumps, bridging the gap of the injury. NGCs can be made from a variety of synthetic or natural materials and experimentally can incorporate cells and/or growth factors to improve guidance. Work is presently focused on methods for improving NGC design. Approaches include: 1) the synthesis and characterization of parallel degradable microfibres as a scaffold for controlling the direction of neuronal and Schwann cell growth; 2) the use of surface chemical modification of polymers by plasma deposition for improving the ability of neuronal and Schwann cells to grow and 3) the use of 3D lithography printing methods for making NGCs from degradable polymers, which contain internal structures for physical guidance, plus designing new approaches for the use of Schwann cell therapy.
Biography:
John Haycock is a Professor in the Department Materials Science & Engineering, and Director of the Centre for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering. He obtained his first degree and PhD in Biochemistry at Newcastle University and was a PDRA at Albany Medical College in New York. His research group is based in the Kroto Research Institute.
John’s research currently spans five interdisciplinary themes:
1. Nerve tissue engineering. The design of nerve guidance channels for repairing traumatic peripheral nerve injury – combining biomaterials, 3D fabrication, neuronal, glial and stem cell research.
2. 3D In vitro models of nerve. The use of 3D scaffolds and neuronal / glial co-cultures for 3D in vitro models of nerve as an alternative to animal models for disease, disorder and testing research.
3. 3D In vitro models of skin. The use of 3D scaffolds and keratinocyte / fibroblast co-cultures for 3D in vitro models of skin as an alternative to animal models for inflammatory testing.
4. 3D Imaging. Confocal and 2-photon microscopy + Time resolved microcopy imaging
5. Bioactive surfaces. Anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial surfaces for medical applications
John also has an interest in single and 2-photon laser scanning microscopy for supporting a number of interdisciplinary research programmes, including tissue engineering. He was responsible for establishing the confocal and multiphoton imaging facility in the Kroto Research Institute funded by the BBSRC with support from Carl Zeiss.