Project: Autologous Stem Cell Enriched Scaffolds for Soft Tissue Regeneration.

Soft tissue defects can develop by accident or as consequence of insufficient blood supply as it can be initiated by peripheral vascular diseases and bedriddenness of high-maintenance patients. Existing therapies for regeneration of soft tissue have proven unsatisfactory and care of those patients is expensive. Biomaterials however, are powerful tools in regenerative medicine and in addition the therapeutic use of mesenchymal stem cells is brought into the focus of research activities during recent years. The aim of this project is to bring these two fields – biomaterials research and stem cell therapy – together, opening a new area of applications in therapies of large soft tissue defects. During surgical treatment, cells from adipose tissue of the patient will be enriched and immediately transferred to a scaffold and applied to the wound. The cell population transferred consists of mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial cells, and optionally differentiated adipocytes. Instead of cell cultivation in the lab, we try to stimulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation on the scaffold in situ. This innovative technique with autologous stem cells can provide improvements in wound healing and product development. The technique of surgery adapted (stem) cell isolation is available at the start of the project. Stem cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation on adequate cell carrier materials with special buffer solutions, the transport and packaging systems must be developed. Appropriate materials already exist in parts (developed by different companies involved in this proposal). However, the innovative application objective and the treatment combination of stem cells and materials are novel and require further research activities. These research activities should also include improvement of cell isolation procedures and compatibility testing of buffer systems together with already certified and newly developed materials and the prearrangement of clinical trials.

Acronym	ASCaffolds
Network	ETB-PRO
Call	7th call for proposals (Call 2012)

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
	Belgium		Belgium
	Medical Biomaterial Products GmbH	Coordinator	Germany