Akademiliv

Sahlgrenska akademins nyheter

På Svenska
University of Gothenburg Logotype
  • News
  • Notices
  • Grants
  • About Akademiliv

Advanced technology enables new research on tendons

7 March, 2024 Leave a Comment

CONTRIBUTION. Despite Achilles tendon ruptures affecting a significant number of individuals, research on tendons has not been particularly extensive. However, new discoveries have contributed to increasing hopes of finding better treatment methods. A grant of 2.5 million Swedish kronor from the Lundberg Research Foundation is allocated to new technology that will assist researchers in Gothenburg in understanding why some patients’ tendons heal well while others do not.

Achilles tendon rupture, when the Achilles tendon completely or partially tears, is a very common diagnosis. The injury usually occurs during sports activities and affects significantly more men than women. It primarily affects individuals aged 35-45, but with the increasing number of people maintaining an active lifestyle into older age, its occurrence in older age groups is also rising. The main challenges with Achilles tendon rupture are that healing takes a very long time, over a year, and that many individuals, despite rehabilitation, do not regain full strength and function in the injured leg. Research on tendons has long been neglected compared to research on muscles and bones. However, interest has grown in recent years.

Pernilla Eliasson. Photo: Bo Håkansson.

“Tendons were once considered merely as a rope between bone and muscle, with tissue consisting of a type of cells that were inactive and not possible to influence. But now we know that tendon tissue, on the contrary, is both multifaceted and complex,” explains Pernilla Eliasson, Associate Professor of Orthopedics at the Sahlgrenska Academy and head of the Orthopedic Research Unit at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

Her research for nearly twenty years has focused on tendons and healing of tendon injuries, aiming to understand what factors in the tendon and the surrounding muscles affect healing. One way to achieve this is to determine what distinguishes patients who regain full function after an Achilles tendon rupture from those who do not.

Cultivating artificial tendons

The display on the new cryostat showing the setting of various parameters on tissue sections. Photo: Bo Håkansson.

Through close collaboration with the orthopedic clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, researchers have access to tissue samples from patients with injured Achilles tendons. These samples are studied at the cellular level.

“A patient may have active cells with characteristics beneficial for healing and repair, while another may have cells that do not behave this way at all. We want to find out what in the cells causes this difference. Additionally, we want to see the differences in tissue cells from different patient groups, such as older and younger patients,” explains Pernilla Eliasson.

Another way to compare patients’ cells and healing ability is to extract cells from the tendon tissue and cultivate small artificial tendons. With such a method, researchers can study the cells’ characteristics and activities relatively quickly and compare them.

New technology provides new opportunities

To create the best possible conditions for research, Pernilla Eliasson has applied for and received funding for new technical equipment. A grant of 2.5 million Swedish kronor from the Lundberg Research Foundation enables an upgrade of the unit’s laboratory with a modern cryostat, a flow cytometer for efficient analysis of various types of cells, and real-time PCR. The latter makes it possible to study gene expression, the process by which information in a gene’s DNA is transferred to the cell’s structures and functions.

“By studying gene expression, we can look at several different parameters simultaneously and perform analyses that help us choose the right path forward, clarifying which tissue samples or which proteins we should examine more closely.”

Preparation of cell culture plates, including small suture pieces, for cultivating small artificial tendons. Photo: Bo Håkansson.

Another important acquisition is a materials testing machine that allows researchers to subject the laboratory-cultivated small tendons to stress.

“We want to develop treatments that strengthen the tendon. With a materials testing machine, we can evaluate whether what we subject the tendon cells to has any effect. The machine’s stress on the cultivated tendons corresponds to a person using and stressing their leg. Stress is very important; it is how we communicate with our cells and tell them what functions they need. Pressure indicates the need to develop cartilage in a certain place, while tension indicates the need for tendons.”

The new laboratory equipment will benefit the entire research unit. The need to understand what distinguishes patients who heal well from those who do not exists in several areas of orthopedics, according to Pernilla Eliasson:

“A flow cytometer and a real-time PCR are examples of equipment that will definitely be very useful in many of our areas. We are very skilled in orthopedic research in Gothenburg, but we need to improve a bit on the preclinical work, which requires a well-equipped laboratory. Now we can upgrade our work, progress faster in research, and put what we do here on the map even more clearly than before.”

BY: LUNDBERG FOUNDATION
PHOTO: BO HÅKANSSON

 

 

By: Elin Lindström

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HAPPY SUMMER!

The newsletter from Akademiliv will return on Wednesday, August 21st.

Contact your institute to add your event to the calendar in the Staff Portal

  • Biomedicine: Kristian Kvint: kalender@biomedicine.gu.se
  • Core Facilities: Amelie Karlsson: amelie.karlsson.2@gu.se
  • Clinical Sciences: Katarina Olinder Eriksson: klinvet@gu.se
  • Medicine: Nina Raun; kommunikation@medicine.gu.se
  • Neuroscience and Physiology: Josefin Bergenholtz; kommunikation@neuro.gu.se
  • Odontology: Johan Thompson; info@odontologi.gu.se
  • Sahlgrenska Academy’s Office and faculty-wide calendar events Åsa Ekvall; info@sahlgrenska.gu.se
  • Health and Care Sciences: Karin Mossberg; vardvetenskap@fhs.gu.se

Information from Sahlgrenska Academy Research Support Office

[UPDATED JUNE 2024]
The Sahlgrenska Academy Research Support Office provides an overview of upcoming and current calls, nominations and events in an information letter. This letter is updated on a monthly basis.
Current and previous newsletters are also available in the Staff Portal.

’20 minutes for researchers’ is back – see full spring program

During 20 minutes over Zoom, the Biomedical Library gives tips on tools and services that can facilitate your research everyday life.

More news

En personlig död (A Personal Death) – a chance to win Björn Fagerberg’s new book

27 May, 2024

NEW BOOK. During his career as a physician specializing in internal medicine, Björn Fagerberg has been involved in many end-of-life situations, …  

She is doing her residency in the US with a medical degree from Gothenburg

21 May, 2024

STUDENT. Doing a “residency” in orthopedics in the United States is an unattainable dream for many newly qualified American doctors. Now Janina Ka …  

Alba Corell reports from a high-level brain tumor meeting

20 May, 2024

COLUMN. The recent gathering of the Scandinavian Society of Neuro-oncology (SNOG) in Gothenburg has concluded. Professor Asgeir Jakola hosted and …  

From South Africa to Sweden: Collaborative Research Efforts Improving Pregnant Women’s Health

17 May, 2024

GLOBAL HEALTH. In the bustling Tygerberg University Hospital in Cape Town, a dedicated research team led by Lina Bergman, is on a mission to …  

Sara Bjursten and Anna Wenger are the recipients of the Assar Gabrielsson Prize 2024

17 May, 2024

AWARD. The Assar Gabrielsson Foundation has named Anna Wenger as the winner in the basic science research category and Sara Bjursten as the …  

A full day for PhD students focused on mental health

16 May, 2024

PHD STUDENTS. For the sixth time, PhD students at Sahlgrenska Academy were invited to PhD Day, organized by the Doctoral Student Council. The day …  

Kaj Blennow ranked highest in Sweden in neuroscience

16 May, 2024

AWARD. In this year's edition of the researcher ranking from Research.com in the field of neuroscience, Kaj Blennow is ranked 17th …  

Linda Wass is doing a postdoc at Stanford with ALF funding

14 May, 2024

ALF FUNDING. Biomedical Scientist Linda Wass has just settled in Stanford, California, where she will spend two years as a postdoc. She is the …  

Karin Nilsson wrote the Thesis of the Year at Sahlgrenska Academy in 2023

14 May, 2024

AWARD. Karin Nilsson, currently a postdoc at the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, receives the faculty-wide Thesis of the …  

Some answers from the proposed members of the next Faculty Board

14 May, 2024

FACULTY ELECTIONS. The eight proposed members of the next Faculty Board hereby give some brief answers on how they want to contribute to the work …  

More news...

Sahlgrenska Academy

© University of Gothenburg
PO-Box 100, S-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Phone: 00 46 31 786 0000

About the website

Elin Lindström is editor for Akademiliv.
Please feel free to send your ideas and comments to akademiliv@gu.se

Sign up for the Akademiliv newsletter:

Send you tips to Akademiliv

Do you have a suggestion for news, grants, seminars or an education?
Send an email to Elin Lindström Claessen