News

Nov 2020-

Surakshya’s paper has been accepted into Biomacromolecules! Another fun collaboration on microgels with the Forsythe group.

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We compared hydrogels with different proportions of gelatin and hyaluronic acid and found different outcomes for these when in bulk vs This turned out to be from differing effects on both the biological response of the cells and physical processes governing mineral deposition. The combination of these was critical in defining the overall success of new tissue formation. Overall this highlights the complexity of building new tissues and shows how important it is to consider multiple aspects in combination when optimising conditions for cell differentiation and tissue formation.

S Shrestha, F Li, VX Truong, JS Forsythe, JE Frith Interpay of Hydrogel Composition and Geometry on human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Osteogenesis. Biomacromolecules online ahead of publication.

Nov 2020-

The band is back toegther! First real-life group meetup in several months. Celebrating lots of milestones- submitted theses, accepted papers, new funding for our work and much more…


Jan 2020

Fanyi’s paper has been published in Biomaterials Science. In collaboration with Marcy Zenobi-Wong and John Forsythe, we tested the ability of cell-laden microgels to form cartilage in vivo.

F Li, C Levinson, VX Truong, LA Laurent-Applegate, K Maniura-Weber, H Thissen, JS Forsythe, M Zenobi-Wong, JE Frith. Microencapsulation improves chondrogenesis in vitro and cartilagenous matrix stability in vivo compared to bulk encapsulation. Biomaterials Science 8 (6), 1711-1725


Dec 19-

Our book chapter is now available- here we discuss how cell fate is regulated by physical cues and how these are being used in musculoskeletal tissue-engineering

Carthew J., Shrestha S., Donderwinkel I., Frith J.E. (2019) Physical Stimulation in Tissue-Engineering. In: Seppänen-Kaijansinkko R. (eds) Tissue Engineering in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24517-7_4


Nov 19-

Published in Acta Bio- we have been able to transfect MSCs directly whilst encapsulated in a hydrogel. Not only is this much simpler than transfecting and then encapsulating the cells, but we show that it is much better at promoting osteogenesis too!

Carthew J, Donderwinkel I, Shrestha S, Truong VX, Forsythe JS, Frith JE. In situ miRNA delivery from a hydrogel promotes osteogenesis of encapsulated mesenchymal stromal cells. Acta Biomater, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2019.11.016

You can read the preprint here:


Jan 18– Our work on miRNA modulation of the MSC response to substrate stiffness was published in Nature Communications.

Frith JE, Kusuma GD, Carthew J, Li F, Cloonan N, Gomez GA, Cooper-White JJ. Mechanically sensitive miRNAs bias human mesenchymal stem cell fate via mTOR signalling.Nat Commun. 2018 Jan 17;9(1):257

Check it out here: https://t.co/wcr9J1MNrW


May 17– Check out our review featured on the cover of Stem Cells and Development.

Here we review how the microenvironment can modulate MSC paracrine signalling and the opportunities this provides to modulate and promote tissue regenration.

Kusuma GD, Carthew J, Lim R, Frith JE. Effect of the microenvironment on mesenchymal stem cells paracrine signalling: opportunities to engineer the therapeutic effect. Stem Cells Dev, 2017 Feb 10.

Stem Cells Dev Cover