Please contact the Niche Hub project manager, Jenny Cusiter (jennifer.cusiter@ed.ac.uk) if you wish to obtain further information on any of the resources detailed below.
Collaborating with Niche Hub researchers: Opportunities for academia and industry
The Niche Hub aims to drive its research towards clinical therapies through direct cell therapies and by targeting and improving the ‘endogenous repair’ of damaged tissue. To progress regenerative medicine from the laboratory to the clinic we are keen to collaborate with academia and industry. The regenerative medicine expertise within the Niche Hub ranges from material science to bioengineering and cell differentiation, making the Niche Hub an exciting partner for accelerating your academic and industrial R&D and product development activities.
We are currently successfully engaging with industry in the areas of biomarkers for point of care platforms, inhibitory molecules, and GMP-compatible cell differentiation methodology and reagents. We are continuously looking for opportunities to increase this engagement and are keen to discuss ideas and projects with potential new partners.
CCBN (Chemistry and Computational Biology of the Niche)
CCBN is an interdisciplinary research facility at the University of Edinburgh, funded by the Medical Research Council. It provides the space and resources to link cutting-edge chemistry, bioengineering and computational biology with stem cell biology and regenerative medicine research. It is a national collaboration zone for the UK stem cell and regenerative medicine community. Integrated within the UKRMP Niche Hub it aims to support the delivery of novel tools and technologies. Visiting researchers will be able to access dry-computational and wet laboratories with minimal barriers to develop their particular research activity. Details about available facilities can be found here.
Access to screening strategies for myelination studies.
Niche Hub Researcher Dr Anna Williams has developed an ex vivo murine slice culture system that allows investigation of myelination, demyelination and remyelination. This tool can be used as an initial reliable screen to select the most promising remyelination strategies (ExpNeurology2011;230:138).
Validated Extracellular Matrix Arrays
The UKRMP Niche Hub has produced a range of high quality ECM products to support the development of bespoke niche products for preclinical research and therapeutic development.
The following products are available:
Protein |
Fibronectin full |
Fnlll 7-14 |
N terminal 29-kDa fragment of fibronectin (Fn29K) |
Fibrillin-1 PF8 |
Fibrillin-1 PF9 |
Fibrillin-1 PF17.1 |
Fibrillin-2 PF17.2 |
Laminin5 LG4-LG5 |
Laminin5 LG1-LG3 |
BMP2 containing fraction |
Fibulin-5 |
Hepatocyte differentiation protocols
Cost effective protocols for growing hepatocyte-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells suitable for mass production of clinical grade cells (Stem Cell Reports 2015: 5(5): 1250).
MicroRNA Measurement Technique
Techniques for measurement of lead microRNAs in patients with acute liver injury (Nature Scientific Reports 2015; 5: 15501).
Raman Spectroscopy Protocols
Raman spectroscopy protocol for the integration and analysis of multiple analytical datasets (J. Biophotonics 2016; 9(5): 542)
Optical coherence tomography for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Non-destructive cell imaging platform applicable in bone and cartilage regeneration research (Proc. of SPIE 2016; 9710: 971007)