Project R-10785

Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers for tissue regeneration. (Research)

Regenerative medicine is a rapidly progressing field as regeneration of tissues and organs is essential in case of injuries, disease or ageing in adults. Understanding the functional biology of stem cells provides valuable insights into the cellular processes that are crucial to elicit the regeneration of tissues with little or no regenerative capacities. While the restoration of damaged body parts in humans is limited, few animals such as flatworms can undergo complete tissue regeneration including the nervous system. One of the challenging tasks in regenerative biology is to understand the complex cellular processes and the associated signaling events in stem cells and regenerative tissues. It is therefore important to selectively modulate them by introducing regulating factors. Developments in nanotechnology has paved for advanced nanocarriers (NCs) that can be controlled to release compounds on demand. In this work, stimuli-responsive NCs will be used to deliver regulating factors to shed light on several biological processes and underlying mechanisms in stem cells and flatworms. Such an interdisciplinary approach would help to resolve multilevel complexities in regenerative biology and also open new doors for developing therapeutic solutions in regenerative medicine.

01 October 2020 - 30 September 2024