Raghav Popuri

How can induced pluripotent stem cells be used to accelerate the recovery of muscle injuries that occur during sports?

Started Mar. 26, 2025

Abstract or project description

The impact of muscle ruptures in sports today is unfortunately very large. In addition to the valuable time they waste recovering, a lack of better treatment options leaves a majority of athletes vulnerable to further injury after the injury has healed. A possible solution to this problem would involve using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to eventually biofabricate an implantable muscle construct that would serve as a replacement for the torn muscle fibers. To achieve this, somatic skin cells are reprogrammed to iPSCs which are further differentiated into myoblasts. Using a gelatin methacryloyl backing and a fibrin overlay, the myoblasts fuse and form myotube sheets. These sheets are stacked and vascularized using endothelial cells to form an implantable muscle tissue construct. Once it is created, the tissue will be surgically implanted, accelerating the process of recovery for the injured athlete. Possible next steps could include lowering the amount of variables during the differentiation process to minimize differences between different batches of iPSCs. As advancements in stem cell biology and tissue engineering develop, implantable muscle tissues will become more and more accessible and pragmatic, gradually eliminating one of sports most prevalent problems.