Tissue Engineered Skin to be First of Many Products

CONTACT: Lia Unrau
PHONE: (713) 831-4793
E-MAIL:unrau@rice.edu

TISSUE ENGINEERED SKIN TO BE FIRST OF MANY PRODUCTS

Tissue engineering research, including skin
products that may be available by the end of this year, and future products such
as cartilage and bone, are the focus of an annual short course at Rice
University’s Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering.

Advances discussed at the course include two skin products that will be the
first tissue-engineered products on the market, possibly available later this
year. One of the products works as a temporary covering for burns prior to skin
grafting. The other serves as a skin replacement for diabetic ulcers.

Other areas that are rapidly advancing toward the delivery of
tissueengineered products include:

• Cartilage to reconstruct facial defects and knees; tissue engineered
  cartilage integrates smoothly into animals’ joints, clinical trials in humans
  are expected to begin early next year.

• Heart valves and blood vessels that grow along with the patient have been
  implanted in animals, and are expected to be in clinical trials in twothree
  years.

• Bone grown upon biodegradable polymer scaffolds, custom-shaped for each
  patient, with the new bone eventually replacing the biodegradable polymer while
  maintaining the anatomically desired shape and mechanical properties. Bone has
  been grown in sheep, and preliminary results hold promise for future clinical
  trials.

• Important research areas include development of biomaterial scaffolds for
  promoting simultaneous growth of different types of cells, necessary for
  re-creating complex organs such as the liver, pancreas and kidneys, which
  require different types of cells to interact to perform a variety of functions.
  Researchers are also studying how these highly metabolic organs, once developed,
  might be integrated smoothly into a human, so there is no interruption in
  nutrient and blood supply.

• Research is also focused on methods for combining gene therapy with tissue
  engineering to replace cells deficient in one or more gene product, and
  engineering cells to deliver proteins and other therapeutic drugs.

With some tissue-engineered products expected to come to market this year,
and the apparent certainty that by 2000-2005 there will be a continuous series
of products coming available, the issue of federal regulation of these products
is now an important policy issue. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
established new guidelines for the handling of tissue-engineered products.
Charles Durfor from the FDA will provide this year’s course participants with
the latest information regarding the regulatory considerations for
tissue-engineered products.

Rice’s fourth annual course in tissue engineering provides scientists and
clinicians a way to quickly update their knowledge in this rapidly growing,
interdisciplinary field. The course focuses on the latest science and technology
required for growing human tissues and developing new means of replacing damaged
or diseased organ or skeletal structures.

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