Chris Rathbone, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
UTSA
Currently seeking M.S. & Ph.D. students
Developments in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have the potential to dramatically improve outcomes for a wide variety of diseases and injuries. In particular, stem cell-based therapies have been successful in this realm, however, the development of a sufficient vascular supply limits their full potential. Broadly speaking, I am interested in improving the regeneration of tissue by utilizing tissue-engineering based strategies whereby vascular structures and stem cells are used in conjunction with scaffolds and growth factors. Previous experience working in government and industry research provided a valuable perspective on the need to make scientific advancements a clinical reality.
Muscle diseases and injuries represent one area where these concepts are applied. Traumatic acute muscle injuries that occur subsequent to severe trauma often result in a complete elimination of the necessary building blocks for tissue regrowth, i.e., stem/progenitor cells, growth factors, and matrices. With muscle wasting that occurs with chronic diseases and aging the building blocks are present, but their limited function and blood supply renders them unable to effectively maintain a homeostatic balance. Stated another way, acute muscle injuries will rely heavily on the delivery of stem cells, growth factors, and scaffolds to restore vasculature and regenerate skeletal muscle tissue de novo in an environment void of these elements, whereas muscle wasting may require therapies that take into consideration a limited microenvironment in a confined space. An effective approach to restore tissue perfusion and regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle for muscle compromised under both acute and chronic conditions is to utilize microvascular fragments (MVFs) derived from adipose tissue. MVFs have been demonstrated to be effective in restoring perfusion in a variety of models under very standard conditions. One of the objectives of my laboratory is to improve the use of MVFs by using a combinatorial approach where growth factors and biomaterials are incorporated to fully realize the regenerative potential of MVFs.