Publication Alert! IALH Affiliate Stephanie Willerth co-wrote an article entitled Engineering brain and spinal cord tissue constructs with Michel Modo and Kyle Lampe. It was published in Brain Research Bulletin.

Introduction:

The engineering of neural tissues has been a quest for over 30 years and remains one of the most challenging endeavors for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (Kaul and Ventikos, 2015). The isolation of neural stem cells (NSCs) provides a stable and reliable source of cells, including those of human origin, that can be expanded in vitro and differentiated into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes (Breunig et al., 2011). Researchers produce engineered 3D tissue constructs by combining this off-the-shelf cell source with biomaterials that provide structural and biochemical signaling components to developing cells. These constructs engineered for neural applications facilitate tightly controlled in vitro experiments, as well as represent transplantable products aimed at repairing damaged brain and/or spinal cord tissues (Willerth, 2017). This special issue on Engineering of Brain and Spinal Cord Tissue Constructs presents a collection of primary research and review articles that chart state-of-the-art tissue engineering approaches to create de novo neural tissues.

To read the full article, visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361923021003336?via%3Dihub