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NTU's research on Biodegradable Materials and Tissue Engineering of Nerves Ranks 12th Globally

2022-03-21

According to the article “Biodegradable Materials and the Tissue Engineering of Nerves”recently published in Engineering (Engineering2021, 7: 1700-1703), Nantong University ranks 12th globally in the field of biodegradable materials and tissue engineering of nerves, and 4th in China in this field. The ranking was based on a literature search and medical informatics analysis of this field from 2001 to 2020, conducted by Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

The Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, led by Academician Gu Xiaosong, an expert in the field of tissue engineering and nerve regeneration, has made outstanding innovative research achievements in biodegradable materials and tissue engineering of nerves over the past three decades. The academic view “constructing biodegradable tissue engineered nerve” put forward by Gu has been included in the new edition of textbook in Cambridge University as a new concept. Under his leadership, the team has developed tissue engineered nerves featuring good biomechanics, adjustable degradation, low immunogenicity, which are conducive to vascular growth and nerve-directed growth, with new techniques and processes for constructing tissue engineered nerves. The biodegradable artificial nerve graft developed by the team is the first in the world to apply chitosan artificial nerve graft to clinical practice, and the injured limb function of the tested patients has recovered significantly, with an excellent rate of 85%. The composition of peripheral nerve repair graft is the first of its kind at home and abroad, with good scalability, and the product was approved by the National Medical Product Administration for registration and marketing in November 2020 (No. 20203130898), and was selected as one of the Important Medical Advances of China 2020, creating a new technique for repairing long-distance nerve defects with autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells tissue engineering nerves. As a result, the defect of 8 cm of human median nerve stem was successfully repaired, and the function of the patient recovered well after operation. A new generation of tissue-engineered nerve grafts stromal fibroin was developed creatively, which has won invention patents from the United States, Eurasia, Australia, etc, playing an important role in the innovation and translation of China's tissue-engineered nerves into international leadership. Academician Gu Xiaosong is currently leading the ''Research on Regenerative Medicine Innovation and Industrial Development Strategy for China 2035 .  Science acclaims Professor Gu as the translational pioneer in tissue engineering of nerves who is the first in the world to apply chitosan nerve graft to clinical practice and the first to transform artificial nerve research into clinical practice.