A Targeted and Orchestrated Signalling Matrix for Clinically Challenging Defects

Our rapid increase in the understanding of the biology underlying many bodily repair processes has led to new perspectives in the design and use of materials to address disease or injury. For restorative stem cells to fully participate in tissue regeneration they need to be packaged in a delivery material that provides an optimal environment for them to function. This project will commercially develop a multi-functional tissue matrix that precisely locates an array of regenerative signals to service the requirements of tissue regeneration.The technology will be first directed towards bone repair applications, where earlier materials-based approaches are insufficient to heal large defects and in cases where more potent stimuli are required (e.g. for non-healing bone fractures and some spinal surgeries). The flexibility of the technology means that combinations of healing signals can be introdued into the matrix to make it more efficient and yield greater quantities of regenerated tissue. Further, a biologically-complex, highly active product can be produced with a low-cost formulation due to the re-purposing of existing, market-approved constituents.