Cell and Tissue Engineering

General characterization

Prerequisites

There are no special pre requisites, although it would be preferable that students have already completed corses on biomaterials and cell biology.

Bibliography

Main Bibliography:

          - C. van Blitterswijk (editor), Tissue Engineering, Elsevier, 2008

Additional bibliography for specific parts of the program:

         - W. M. Saltzman, Tissue Engineering - Principles for the design of replacement organs and tissues, Oxford University Press 2004 (R 857 SAL)
        - K. Lee, D. Kaplan, Eds, Tissue engineering I - Scaffold Systems for Tissue Engineering, Springer, 2006
        - K. Lee, D. Kaplan, Eds, Tissue engineering II - Basics of Tissue Engineering and Tissue Applications, Springer, 2007
        - B. Alberts, A. Johnson, J. Lewis, M. Raff, K. Roberts, P. Walter, Molecular Biology of The Cell, 4th Ed, Garland 2002
        - R. I. Freshney, Culture of Animal Cells - A manual of basic techniques, Wiley-Liss, 2005
        - P. X. Ma, J. Elisseeff, Eds., Scaffolding In Tissue Engineering, CRC, 2005

Teaching method

The method used in teaching the syllabus of ECT is based on lectures and laboratory practical classes. In the lectures the various themes that make up the curriculum are addressed through exposure of concepts, methods and examples of laboratory and clinical studies. In practical classes, students produce and characterize scaffolds for tissue engineering and perform cell cultures on these scaffolds.

Evaluation method

The curricular unit “Cell and Tissue Engineering” is of the type Seminar. 

 

The assessment consists of four components:

1- oral presentation;

2- practical work;

3- essays on the class topics;

4- research project or review paper.

There are no tests nor final exam. The final grade is the weighted average of the grades of the practical work (30%), essays (10%), oral presentation (25%) and project or paper (35%). The classification of the various evaluation elements is always rounded to the unit.

 

There is attendance assessment. It is granted to students who have positive evaluation in practical work and oral presentation components. Students who do not obtain attendance will have to sign up again and repeat the ECT component where they didn''''''''''''''''t obtain a positive mark. The attendance and the marks obtained in the components of practical work and oral presentation have no expiry date.

 

Practical work - the assessment is based on reports. Students are given a model structure for reports. The laboratory experiments are performed in groups of two students.

 

Essays - 7 questions answered using the Moodle platform about the class subjects.

 

Oral presentation - presentation and discussion on the state of the art of Tissue Engineering / Regenerative Medicine of a tissue or organ to the students choice. Students are given the evaluation grid. Oral presentations are held during the last two weeks of classes in groups of 2 students. The presentations are discussed by another group of students . The presentations ( slides ) must be delivered by the date announced at the beginning of classes (mid November) to be available to all students and teachers before the beginning of the presentations .

 

Research project - design and writing of a research project in the area of Cell and Tissue Engineering according to the rules of the Foundation for Science and Technology (only the technical/scientific component of  FCT / MCTES projects). The project theme is chosen by the student. The evaluation is carried out taking into account the objectives explained in the instructions provided to students. The research project may be developed either individually or in a group of 2 students. The deadline is the last day of the examination period. The final project will only be accepted from students who have obtained attendance. 

Review paper - writing of a review paper on a topic of Cell and Tissue Engineering. The project theme is chosen by the student. The evaluation is carried out taking into account the objectives explained in the instructions provided to students. The review paper may be written either individually or in a group of 2 students. The deadline is the last day of the examination period. The paper will only be accepted from students who have obtained attendance.

Subject matter

Program based on the book "Tissue Engineering" (Senior Editor: Clemens van Blitterswijk. Elsevier, 2008)

1 - Introduction to cell and tissue engineering

2 - The History of the first TE product, Integra

3 - Tissue homeostasis and wound healing

4 - The 4 tissue types 

5 - The extracellular matrix

6 - Cell culture

7 - Natural polymers

8 - Synthetic degradable polymers

9 - Bioceramics and Biocomposites

10 - Scaffold design and fabrication

11 - Stem cells

12 - Cell-biomaterial interactions

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: