The MUG scientists co-authored a prestigious publication

15.07.2019

Michał Pikuła, M.D., Ph.D, D.Sc.

Research on a new strategy for tissue regeneration has just been published in the prestigious EBiomedicine magazine(IF = 6.68), part of the “The Lancet” group. Publication entitled Epigenetic inhibitor zebularine activates ear pinna wound closure in the mouse was conceived under the direction of Michał Pikuła, M.D., Ph.D, D.Sc. from the Laboratory of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine of the Department of Embryology at the MUG and Prof. Paweł Sachadyn from Laboratory of Regenerative Biotechnology at the Gdańsk University of Technology. The cther co-authors from the MUG are Milena Deptula, M.Sc., Ph.D., Ewa Nowicka, M.A., Anna Wardowska, Ph.D., Natalia Filipowicz, Ph.D., Alina Mieczkowska, M.A., Grażyba Peszyńska-Sularz, D.V.M., Ph.D. and Prof. Arkadiusz Piotrowski.

The publication concerns an innovative pharmacological regeneration method based on the use of an epigenetic inhibitor to activate the endogenous (innate) regenerative potential of the body. The studies used animal and cell models as well as advanced molecular biology methods. The authors also presented potential molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to tissue regeneration and accelerated wound healing.

After careful clinical safety assessments it was concluded that this method of regeneration activation may be a future alternative for transplanting cells and tissues to patients with various types of tissue defects, e.g. chronic wounds. The use of a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (zebularyna) for the regeneration of complex tissues has been previously reserved by the authors of the work in international patent applications.

The project was financed from the NCBR funds as part of the STRATEGMED programme and implemented by the scientific consortium REGENNOVA (STRATEGMED1 / 235077/9 / NCBR / 2014). The publication is the result of the work carried out by a wide interdisciplinary team of researchers from four Polish scientific institutions: MUG, including the Department of Embryology, Department of Clinical Anatomy, Department and Department of Biology and Pharmaceutical Botany, Tri-City Academic Experimental Animal House, Gdansk University of Technology (Laboratory of Regenerative Biotechnology), University of Gdańsk (Faculty of Chemistry) and the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw.