Engineering self-assembling silk hydrogels for the delivery of stem cells

Context of the research: Stroke is the number one cause of disability in the UK, with an estimated 150,000 new cases annually. Following the acute onset of stroke, lack of oxygen leads to massive neuronal cell death within minutes and progressive brain damage over the following hours and days. A therapeutic intervention that would retard or even halt stroke progression would benefit stroke survivors. In this context, stem cell-based therapies are currently being assessed in patients. However, delivering those cells safely and effectively to the area in the brain where they are needed most is challenging. There is the need to develop delivery systems that can place, retain, support and protect applied stem cells to maximise their therapeutic potential.

Aims and objectives: Ensuring that a delivery system can fulfil all these needs is not trivial and requires careful selection of the most suitable strategy. The overall aim is to develop a biopolymer solution that can be loaded with stem cells and injected into the stroked brain, which could subsequently transition into a gel that retains, supports and protects the applied stem cell load at the target site. The programme's two main objectives include: 1. Develop protocols that permit the biopolymer's triggered transition from a solution to a gel and to underpin this by robust sample characterisation. 2. Examine the biopolymer's ability to support and protect applied stem cells.

Potential applications and benefits: Achieving the vision of this proposal will have significant potential to contribute to the nation's health and wellbeing through the development of new, better and affordable stem cell delivery systems-a need that is currently unmet. Unlocking this potential through the provision of better delivery technologies has significant promise for substantial economic impact in the UK, from which a range of sectors and their key role in the economy will benefit, e.g. UK biotechnology industry research and development spending is approximately 780 million p.a. with around 1,000 manufacturers revenues of 8 billion p.a. and projected growth of 4.4% p.a.

Achieving the vision of this proposal will deliver economic benefits and impact companies in a range of sectors including the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The programme also has substantial potential to contribute to the nation's health and wellbeing.

Economic Impact: The proposal has substantial potential to contribute to wealth creation through the exploitation and commercialisation of novel self-assembling hydrogels. In addition to the potential for spin-out formation or licensing opportunities, access to skills and know-how will contribute to increased opportunities for inward investment in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. This is based on a skilled talent base and advanced material processing and application capabilities.

Societal Impact: The proposal has substantial potential to deliver long term benefits to society through improvements in quality of life, health, international development and policy. The need for cell delivery systems is at a critical bottleneck in regard to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine-disciplines that are pivotal to advanced therapeutic strategies for an aging population. While this proposal focuses on developing a delivery method in the stroke setting, similar challenges apply to many other patient populations (e.g. myocardial infarct, macular degeneration). Within the lifecycle of this project, we will directly and immediately impact general society with our dissemination strategies and planned outreach and engagement activities (e.g. Glasgow Science Festival, the Explorathon). These activities are important for raising general awareness and educating the general public on the promise of tissue engineering and its underlying material science. In the long term, the application and adoption of the proposed technology has the potential to improve the nation's health.

The PI already has a track record of success within the industry (see track record), is mentored by Professor Gavin Halbert and has close links with the CMAC National Facility, which allows him to further refine his skill set to positively affect the economy and society.