Skeletal: Bone and Cartilage UCLA faculty studying stem cell and
musculoskeletal disease seek to discover better ways to
regenerate bone and cartilage. Our multidisciplinary team has
expertise in reconstructive surgery, musculoskeletal,
developmental, and stem cell biology, molecular pathology,
material and clinical science, and bioengineering. Together,
they identified a key growth factor (Nell1) that helps
“jumpstart” the body’s own stem cells to repair lost or damaged
bone and cartilage tissues. This discovery could have
significant implications for treating trauma patients with
significant musculoskeletal injuries and can also be used to
treat or “reactivate” stem cells in aged populations with
osteoporotic bone loss or cartilage loss from “wear and tear”
and osteoarthritis. Our faculty have successfully combined Nell1
with specially engineered scaffolds to activate stem cells in
order to regenerate bone in long bone models like the arms and
legs, the spine, and parts of the skull in non-human animals. Ne