Our laboratory is focused on advancing the field of tissue engineering through development of new strategies for preservation, repair, regeneration, augmentation, or replacement of musculoskeletal tissues. We focus in three key areas: the harvest, processing and transplantation of adult connective tissue stem cells and progenitors (CTPs) for treatment of fractures and problems of degenerative joints; the effects of aging and osteoporosis on CTPs; and optimizing assays for CTPs and other stem cells.
Our ongoing health requires continuous renewal of tissues that we loose to degeneration, injury or disease. Our bones, skin, and other tissues are continuously restored by the work of upstream stem cells defined collectively as CTPs. Maintaining this balance of formation in many ways defines health, and regaining this balance is necessary for effective tissue repair or regeneration. Methods that we have developed to measure the number and function of CTPs and methods to harvest, concentrate, select and transplant CTPs are now widely used by scientists and surgeons. We and continue to advance the development of novel biomaterial scaffolds and clinically useful cell processing strategies.
Our laboratory is focused on developing and testing new therapies for patients who suffer diseases that result in the loss or healthy tissue. Fractures, bone loss (osteoporosis), arthritis and cartilage injuries are just a few of these conditions. We are also developing new methods of measuring the number of stem and progenitor cells a person has in different tissues of their body. These methods of measurement can provide a new way to assess the health of a tissue. They may enable the development of new cell therapies. They may also teach us about the process of aging. To stay healthy, our bodies must be in a constant state of regeneration and repair. Our future health requires that we constantly repair and replace the tissues that we lose each day due to natural processes, injury, degeneration or disease.
|US Patent||Patent Title||Issue Date||First-Named Inventor|
|8,068,670||Image Analysis of Biological Objects||11/29/2011||George F. Muschler M.D.|
|7,796,815||Image Analysis of Biological Objects||9/14/2010||George F. Muschler M.D.|
|5,626,579||Bone Transport and Lengthening System||4/7/1997||George F. Muschler M.D.|
|5,429,638||Bone Transport and Lengthening System||7/4/1995||George F. Muschler M.D.|
Tomek IM, Sabel AL, Froimson MI, Muschler G, Jevsevar DS, Koenig KM, Lewallen DG, Naessens JM, Savitz LA, Westrich JL, Weeks WB, Weinstein JN: A collaborative of leading health systems finds wide variations in total knee replacement delivery and takes steps to improve value. Health Aff (Millwood). 2012 Jun;31(6):1329-38.
Caralla T, Boehm C, Hascall V, Muschler G :Hyaluronan as a novel marker for rapid selection of connective tissue progenitors. Ann Biomed Eng. 2012 Dec;40(12):2559-67.
Caralla T, Joshi P, Fleury S, Luangphakdy V, Shinohara K, Pan H, Boehm C, Vasanji A, Hefferan TE, Walker E, Yaszemski M, Hascall V, Zborowski M, Muschler GF: In vivo transplantation of autogenous marrow-derived cells following rapid intraoperative magnetic separation based on hyaluronan to augment bone regeneration. Tissue Eng Part A. 2013 Jan;19(1-2):125-34.
Luangphakdy V, Walker E, Shinohara K, Pan H, Hefferan T, Bauer TW, Stockdale L, Saini S, Dadsetan M, Runge MB, Vasanji A, Griffith L, Yaszemski M, Muschler GF. Evaluation of osteoconductive scaffolds in the canine femoral multi-defect model. Tissue Eng Part A 2013 Mar;19(5-6):634-48.
Kim EJ, Fleischman AJ, Muschler GF, Roy S: Response of bone marrow derived connective tissue progenitor cell morphology and proliferation on geometrically modulated microtextured substrates. Biomed Microdevices. 2013 Jun;15(3):385-96.
Heylman CM, Caralla TN, Boehm CA, Patterson TE, Muschler GF: Slowing the onset of hypoxia increases colony forming efficiency of connective tissue progenitor cells in vitro. J Reg Med and Tissue Eng 2013 Sept; 2(7).