Regenerative Medicine Area
Tissue Engineering
Research Activity
The group is born from the joint experience of applied biology and biomaterials engineering. Our group mainly studies skeletal muscle regeneration to develop new tissue engineering approaches for treating muscle diseases, defects and malformations. Examples of technical skills developed by our group are tissue decellularization and recellularization, 3D printing and bioprinting, 2D and 3D in vitro culture systems, design and fabrication of bioreactors for different tissue culture applications. Currently, our research is supported by project grants whose purpose is to regenerate in vitro different tissue engineered constructs as both in vitro models and in vivo tissue substitutes. Our experience ranges from the use of commercially available and clinically approved biomaterials to the production of extracellular matrix scaffolds, from the use of immortalized cell lines to the isolation of stem and progenitor cells from tissue biopsies, from the characterization of simple cell cultures to the functional analysis of 3D constructs obtained using bioreactors and in silico simulation of their mechanical properties.
Team Members
Prof. Piero Pavan – Principal Investigator
Dr. Edoardo Maghin – Post Doc
Dr. Elena Merotto – PhD Student
Dr. Sara Manzoli – Research Fellow
Dr. Matilde Anna Corbetta – Senior Scientist
Selected Publications
• Maniou E, Todros S, Urciuolo A, Moulding DA, Magnussen M, Ampartzidis I, Brandolino L, Bellet P, Giomo M, Pavan PG, Galea GL, Elvassore N. Quantifying mechanical forces during vertebrate morphogenesis. Nat Mater. 2024;23(11):1575-1581. doi: 10.1038/s41563-024-01942-9.
• Spadoni S, Todros S, Reggiani C, Marcucci L, Pavan PG. The role of the extracellular matrix in the reduction of lateral force transmission in muscle bundles: A finite element analysis. Comput Biol Med. 2024;175:108488. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108488
• Carraro E, Boso D, Dedja A, Giagante M, Caccin P, Barna RA, Bresolin S, Cani A, Borile G, Sandrin D, Romanato F, Cecchinato F, Urciuolo A, Sandonà D, De Coppi P, Pavan PG, Piccoli M. Customized bioreactor enables the production of 3D diaphragmatic constructs influencing matrix remodeling and fibroblast overgrowth. NPJ Regen Med. 2022 Apr 25;7(1):25. doi: 10.1038/s41536-022-00222-x.
• Trevisan C, Fallas MEA, Maghin E, Franzin C, Pavan P, Caccin P, Chiavegato A, Carraro E, Boso D, Boldrin F, Caicci F, Bertin E, Urbani L, Milan A, Biz C, Lazzari L, De Coppi P, Pozzobon M, Piccoli M. Generation of a Functioning and Self-Renewing Diaphragmatic Muscle Construct. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2019 Aug;8(8):858-869. doi: 10.1002/sctm.18-0206.
• Trevisan C, Maghin E, Dedja A, Caccin P, de Cesare N, Franzin C, Boso D, Pesce P, Caicci F, Boldrin F, Urbani L, De Coppi P, Pozzobon M, Pavan P, Piccoli M. Allogenic tissue-specific decellularized scaffolds promote long-term muscle innervation and functional recovery in a surgical diaphragmatic hernia model. Acta Biomater. 2019 Apr 15;89:115-125. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2019.03.007.