Program Overview

Program Overview

The Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-derived Extracellular Vesicles in Wound Healing program is a research-focused initiative that explores the potential of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in regenerative medicine. The program is supervised by Catherine Berry and is part of the Stem Cell Engineering for Regenerative Medicine MSc program.

Program Description

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are key cells involved in tissue repair and regeneration, holding promise in regenerative medicine. However, cell-based therapy approaches have several challenges, including cell obstruction in small blood vessels, MSC infection during cell preparation, donor variability, and cell manufacture. To overcome these limitations, research has shifted towards MSC paracrine signaling, particularly the use of MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) as therapeutic agents.

Research Focus

The program focuses on identifying signals within MSC-EVs and their influence on regeneration medicine, with a specific emphasis on wound healing. Students will isolate MSC-EVs from MSCs in both 2D monolayer and 3D spheroid cultures, characterize MSC-EVs, and assess their influence on simple wound healing models.

Research Techniques

• Stromal Cell culture: 2D monolayer and 3D spheroid
• EV isolation: centrifugation, filtration, and size exclusion chromatography
• EV physical characterization: nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), protein content (BCA assay), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
• EV cargo characterization: cytokine analysis, metabolomics, proteomics
• Cell analysis: PCR, western blot, flow cytometry, advanced microscopy

Program Aim

The program aims to understand the role of MSC-EVs in wound healing, including the characterization of internal EV cargo and the assessment of migration and proliferation cues present in MSC-EVs. This research has the potential to contribute significantly to the field of regenerative medicine, particularly in the development of novel therapeutic strategies for wound healing.