Servicenavigation

Project Details

Back

Projekt Print View

EXC 168:  Regenerative Therapies - From Cells to Tissues to Therapies: Engineering the Cellular Basis of Regeneration

Subject Area Medicine
Neurosciences
Term from 2006 to 2019
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 32725986
 
Final Report Year 2021

Final Report Abstract

The Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) has united leading scientists in the fields of developmental, regenerative, and stem cell biology to advance research into tissue regeneration and cell replacement. The principle of the CRTD, discovery from successful regeneration and development, is based on exceptional research with stem cells and model organisms that retain their ability to regenerate tissues after damage. An effective feature of the CRTD is scientific diversity in the models, organs, diseases, and approaches that are synergised by the shared objectives and close proximity of scientists and clinicians. The funding enabled the establishment of a network that closely links the basic research of the existing Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) research institutes with clinical institutes and with non-university institutes. The use of Seed Grants and Gerok positions created the framework for interdisciplinary intermeshing. The expansion and targeted closing of gaps in large-scale equipment in the Technology Platforms and the Service and Device Pool has given the campus an advantage. Within the cluster, new approaches could be established, which were then expanded to benefit the campus at large, such as tenure track options or flexible child care. CRTD’s regenerative model organism research base has integrated leaders of international repute in zebrafish and salamander research, and experts in mammalian animal models. Investigators have made seminal discoveries that opened new research routes and provided unique Dresden traits. Cell therapy is a further key research area. Fulfilling a CRTD strategic objective, pancreatic islet transplantation was established in Dresden as a ‘first’ in Germany. These advances also provide opportunities for the transplantation of hESC- or hiPSC-derived beta-cells. Cell-, organoid-, and in vivo-based methods for pathogenesis and drug target identification have been developed through excellent Dresden discoveries and recruitment. A basis for the discovery of pathogenetic mechanisms and drug screening was established via in vivo zebrafish drug screening, providing discoveries relevant to haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) and pancreatic beta-cell expansion, and a successful iPSC/ESC/gene editing facility. There have also been therapeutically relevant cell-based discoveries in children with immunological diseases, including pioneering birth cohorts for type 1 diabetes and immunity, and technological developments relevant from fish to mouse to humans. The Free State of Saxony and the TU Dresden will permanently continue the CRTD with annual funding of currently 9.9 Mio €. The CRTD is embedded as one of three institutes within the Center for Molecular and Cell Bioengineering (CMCB), a faculty-like institution of the TU Dresden and an administrative platform for CRTD, B CUBE and BIOTEC. The CRTD will continue to pursue its own scientific mission and provide regenerative biology research.

Link to the final report

https://doi.org/10.2314/KXP:1746737352

Publications

 
 

Additional Information

© 2025 DFG Disclaimer / Copyright / Privacy Policy

Textvergrößerung und Kontrastanpassung