Ana Lúcia Luís

By Ana Colette Maurício, Andrea Gärtner, Paulo Armada-da-Silva, Sandra Amado, Tiago Pereira, António Prieto Veloso, Artur Varejão, Ana Lúcia Luís and Stefano Geuna

Part of the book: Biomaterials

By Tiago Pereira, Andrea Gärtner, Irina Amorim, Paulo Armada-da- Silva, Raquel Gomes, Cátia Pereira, Miguel L. França, Diana M. Morais, Miguel A. Rodrigues, Maria A. Lopes, José D. Santos, Ana Lúcia Luís and Ana Colette Maurício

Part of the book: Advances in Biomaterials Science and Biomedical Applications

By Andrea Gärtner, Tiago Pereira, Raquel Gomes, Ana Lúcia Luís, Miguel Lacueva França, Stefano Geuna, Paulo Armada-da-Silva and Ana Colette Maurício

Part of the book: Advances in Biomaterials Science and Biomedical Applications

By A.R. Caseiro, T. Pereira, P.J. Bártolo, J.D. Santos, A.L. Luís and A. C. Maurício

Skeletal muscle injuries are quite frequent in traumatic scenarios, such as war injuries or road- or work-related accidents. The skeletal muscle has good regenerative ability, but the extent or recurrence of muscle injury might impair complete structural and functional recovery. Severe tissue loss overwhelms skeletal muscle´s intrinsic regenerative capabilities and culminates in the development of noncontractile fibrous tissue scar. Conservative RICE -based and surgical treatments show limited efficacy in terms of improving these severe cases outcomes, pressing the need for new approaches on skeletal muscle’s therapy. Since the first suggestions of the potential of mesenchymal stem cells for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, many applications have been explored for a variety of tissues and diseases, including the skeletal muscle, which is the focus of this literature review.

Part of the book: Progress in Stem Cell Transplantation

By Rui Damásio Alvites, Mariana Vieira Branquinho, Ana Rita Caseiro, Sílvia Santos Pedrosa, Ana Lúcia Luís, Stefano Geuna, Artur Severo Proença Varejão and Ana Colette Maurício

Peripheral nerve injuries remain a common clinical complication, and currently available therapies present significant limitations, often resulting in poor and suboptimal outcomes. Despite significant developments in microsurgical approaches in the last decades, no effective treatment options have been disclosed. Current research focuses on the optimization of such microsurgical techniques and on their combination with other pro-regenerative factors, such as mesenchymal stem cells or biomaterials. Mesenchymal stem cells present a remarkable capacity for bioactive molecule production that modulates inflammatory and regenerative processes, stimulating peripheral nerve regeneration. In parallel, efforts have been directed towards the development of biomaterial nerve guidance channels and nerve conduits. These biomaterials have been optimized in terms of biodegradability, ability to release bioactive factors, incorporation of cellular agents, and internal matrix architecture (to enable cellular migration and mimic native tissue morphology and to generate and bear specific electrical activity). The current literature review presents relevant advances in the development of mesenchymal stem cell and biomaterial-based therapeutic approaches aiming at the peripheral nerve tissue regeneration in diverse lesion scenarios, also exploring the advances achieved by our research group in this field in recent years.

Part of the book: Peripheral Nerve Disorders and Treatment