Our Current Research Activities
In this orange area, you will find four topics that we are actively working in.
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Graded Implants for Tendon-Bone Connections
DFG-Funded Research Unit RU 2180 Tissue transitions have a particular importance in the musculoskeletal system. They are frequently impaired by pathological processes. Current treatment modalities are hardly able to restore original functionality and largely fail within the long run. Implants might provide solutions to this challenge but implants for tissue transitions are still lacking. We…
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Body´s Own Stem Cells
Isolation and Culture In the living organism, stem cells reside in niches to keep them in an optimal state. Here, the oxygen concentration is much lower than in ambient air with 21 % O2. Consequently, when the cells are taken from their natural environment and cultured in the lab, they experience a notable change in…
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Tendon
New data on gene expressions allow diagnosis It is often difficult to distinguish healthy from diseased tendons and to choose the right patient treatment. We aim to identify a pattern of gene markers that might allow such differentiation. To do so, we have isolated RNA from different tendons from more than 80 human patients and…
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Immune Cells
Optimization of cell cultures for implant assessment The development of novel biomaterials is challenging. Not only local interactions at the implantation site but also systemic effects must be considered. Predictive systems based on cell cultures are not yet available. We are working on such systems and currently focus on monocytes/macrophages as one important cell type…