Personal information
I graduated from the Sichuan University (Chendu, China) in 2005, with a degree of B. Sc. I was then enrolled to a 5-year PhD program in College of Stomatology at the same university. In March 2008, I aborted my study in China and joined the research group leading by Dr. Marcel Karperien in the department of Tissue Regeneration as a PhD student.
Research summary
Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) is the golden standard for treatment of large-size cartilage defects. ACT requires, however, at least two operative procedures which take several weeks. We recently developed a simple method that can circumvent the necessity for chondrocyte expansion by cell culture. In this single step procedure, chondrocytes are isolated, mixed with mesenchymal stem cells, loaded on a scaffold and directly re-implanted into the patient. The amount of cartilage produced in this procedure equals or is even more than that formed by a pure chondrocyte population or a pure mesenchymal stem cells population. The improved chondrocyte formation may be explained by cross-talk between the chondrocytes and the stem cells with an as yet unknown mechanism. What I am going to do is to uncover the cellular interaction in the co-culture system. So, my research project can be described as: Elucidation of the mechanism of action of chondro-induction in co-cultures of chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells.
Publications of interest
- Wu L, Cai XX, Dong H, Jing W, Huang YD, Yang XM, Wu Y, Lin YF. Serum regulates adipogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells via MEK/ERK-dependent PPAR gamma expression and phosphorylation. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 2010; 14 (4): 922-32.
- Wu L, Zhu F, Wu Y, Lin Y, Nie X, Jing W, Qiao J, Liu L, Tang W, Zheng X, Tian W. Dentin sialophosphoprotein promoted mineralization and expression of odontogenic genes in adipose-derived stromal cells. Cells Tissues Organs. 2008;187(2):103-12.
- Wu L, Wu Y, Lin Y, Jing W, Nie X, Qiao J, Liu L, Tang W, Tian W. Osteogenic differentiation of adipose derived stem cells promoted by overexpression of osterix. Molecular and Celularl Biochemistry. 2007; 301(1-2):83-92.
- Sun LY, Wu L, Bao CY, Fu CH, Wang XL, Yao JF, Zhang XD, van Blitterswijk CA. Gene expressions of Collagen type I, ALP and BMP-4 in osteo-inductive BCP implants show similar pattern to that of natural healing bones. Materials Science & Engineering C-Materials for Biological Applications. 2009; 29 (6): 1829-34
- Jing W, Wu L, Lin Y, Liu L, Tang W, Tian W. Odontogenic differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells for tooth regeneration: necessity, possibility, and strategy. Medical Hypotheses. 2008; 70(3):540-2.
Ling Wu defended his thesis titled “Mesenchymal Stem cells as trophic mediators in cartilage regeneration” on 12 September 2012
Contact details
E-mail: l.wu@utwente.nl