The Li Laboratory
Faculty > Wan-Ju Li
Wan-Ju Li
Assistant Professor, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation; Biomedical Engineering; Cellular and Molecular Biology Program
li@ortho.wisc.edu
Featured Research in Spring 2010 SCRMC Newsletter
Organ System/Disease Focus
Musculoskeletal system/osteoarthritis and osteoporosis
Aligned Research Focus
Musculoskeletal tissue engineering, musculoskeletal biology, mesenchymal stem cell biology
Research Description
We are interested in the research of musculoskeletal tissue regeneration using the stem cell-based tissue engineering approach. Stem cells are a cell source with great potential to serve as therapeutic agents for the treatment of degenerative musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis. Stem cell-based tissue engineering approaches are to grow stem cells in a three-dimensional, highly porous, biomimetic scaffold under a biologically favorable environment in which biochemical and biomechanical signals are provided for stem cell proliferation and differentiation, extracellular matrix production, and tissue maturation.
We have three specific research goals: 1) to prevent cell senescence and maintain multipotency of stem cells in vitro, 2) to thoroughly differentiate stem cells into specific tissue lineages 3) to generate functional musculoskeletal tissues for replacement of damaged tissues. To achieve these goals, we identify molecules that can regulate cell senescence and enhance lineage-specific differentiation. We also utilize unique extracellular matrix-like nanofibers as a stem cell niche analogue to maintain biological properties of stem cells. We hope that, with the identified molecules and biologically favorable nanofibers, stem cells can thoroughly differentiate into chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and tenocytes, and produce tissue-specific extracellular matrix to regenerate functional tissues for treatment of degenerative musculoskeletal diseases.
Selected References
Tuli R, Nandi S, Li WJ, Tuli S, Huang X, Manner P, Laquerriere P, Nöth U, Tuan RS. Human mesenchymal progenitor cell-based tissue engineering of a single-unit osteochondral construct.Tissue Eng 2004; 10(7): 1169-1179.
Li WJ, Tuli R, Okafor C, Derfoul A, Danielson KG, Hall DJ, Tuan RS. A three-dimensional nanofibrous scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering using human mesenchymal stem cells. Biomaterials 2005; 26(6): 599-609.
Li WJ, Tuli R, Huang X, Laquerriere P, Tuan RS. Multilineage differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells in a three-dimensional nanofibrous scaffold. Biomaterials 2005; 26: 5158-5166.
Handrof AM, Li WJ. Fibroblast growth factor-2 primes human mesenchymal stem cells for enhanced chondrogenesis. PLoS One 2011; 6:e22887.
Barber JG, Handorf AM, Allee TJ, Li WJ. Braided nanofibrous scaffold for tendon and ligament tissue engineering.Tissue Eng Part A 2011 (in press).