Roufaida’s chondrogenesis and osteogenesis experiments are cooking!

At the end of July we are usually asked by our Theme lead to submit our activities and achievements over the past 12 months. A lot has happened in the Pirog lab in 2025/26. We had excellent MRes and BSc students this year, we generated great outputs, travelled to several conferences, won a few funding awards, and organised a fun events. None of this would be possible without a great team!

Here are the Pirog lab outputs for 2025/2026:

Publications:

• Hao Y, Lin H, Soul J, Overman LM, Lisgo SN, Coxhead J,  Pirog KA,  Clark IM, Barter MJ,  Reynard LN, Young DA. Transcriptomic profiling confirms microRNA-140 is more functional in cartilage development than osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2025.11.005.

Conference proceedings:

• Bouchenafa R, de Sousa Brito F, Gioia R, Forlino A, Pirog KA. p.Pro148Leu KIF22 mutation affects bone structure and properties in a knock-in mouse model of SEMDJL2. In: Santamaria S. BSMB Autumn Meeting Abstracts: Uncovering the Matrisome-Advances and Trends in Matrix Research, September 2–3, 2025, University of Surrey, UK. Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry. 2026;74(4):477-492, doi:10.1369/00221554261448876
• Erdas C, Gouveia R, Connon C, Pirog K. Growth factor priming differentially regulates ECM remodelling and myofibroblast transition in corneal stromal cells. In: Dyer D. BSMB Spring Meeting Abstracts: ECM Biology Across Tissue Sites—Location, Location, Location, April 13–14, 2026, University of Manchester, UK. Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry. 2026;74(4):493-514. doi:10.1369/00221554261448877

Conference presentations:

• 02-03/09 BSMB Autumn meeting, Surrey – R Bouchenafa (poster)
• 13-14/04 BSMB Spring meeting, Manchester, C Erdas (poster)
• 21-24/04 TERMIS Europe meeting, Palma Mallorca, C Erdas (poster and session chair)
• 22/06 NC3Rs NAMs network meeting, London, K Pirog (invited speaker)
• 29/06-04/07 Matrix Biology Europe (MBE), Oulu Finland, C Erdas (selected talk), R Bouchenafa (poster), M Lazari (poster)

Funding:

• 2026-2029 EPSRC “PRISM: Piezo-Regulated Immunomodulatory Smart Matrix” (K Pirog as co-I and WP lead)
• 2026-2027 JGW Patterson Foundation “Optimising nanoparticle delivery system for therapeutic gene silencing in the arthritic joint” (K Pirog as lead)
• 2026 NC3Rs/BBSRC Business Interaction Voucher “Novel bioprinting technologies for engineering of compressible zonally stratified cartilage tissue for study of therapeutic interventions” (K Pirog as lead)
• 2026 C Erdas BSMB Presenter Bursary to attend MBE meeting in Oulu
• 2026 M Lazari and R Bouchenafa Doctoral College award to attend MBE meeting in Oulu

Engagement:

• 02/03 K Pirog organised and coordinated the 10^th edition of “Genetics Matters-Rare Disease Day” PPIE event at the Great North Museum Hancock, C Erdas and M Lazari presented their projects, 100+ attendees (local schools, general public, patients and patient organisations) and presenters
• 17/11 K Pirog presented a seminar entitled “Drug repurposing for rare diseases” for the Explore Lifelong Learning public group
• June 2026 K Pirog coordinated  genetics seminar series for the Explore Lifelong Learning public group
• 16/06 K Pirog presented a seminar entitled “Deciphering the molecular mechanisms of osteoarthritis” for the Explore Lifelong Learning public group

Well done everyone, and thank you for all your hard work.

Here’s to another amazing year ahead!

We were test printing into 24 well plates today, and making slight tweaks to optimise the extrusion pressure, printing speed, the supporting bath parameters and the thickness of the printed lines.

The panels on the left show how much we improved over the course of one day. Support bath is dyed red, the ink is in blue.

Top row – first attempt, fresh after print (left panel) and the lines 10 minutes after the print (right panel) showing considerable swelling.

Bottom row – printing a nice line after optimization. Left panel image taken straight after the print, right panel image taken after 10 minutes.

Not bad for a first print!

We will now work on optimising the hydrogels further before printing with living cells next month. Watch this space!

On Monday the 22nd of June we participated in the NAMs (New Approach Methodologies) Network meeting organised by the NC3Rs. Kasia presented an update on our BBSCR/NC3Rs Business Interaction Voucher project and participated in a debate panel discussing hurdles that NAMs face when it comes to uptake and commercialisation of their innovations. It was a really interesting meeting and a great network to discuss our ideas and seek new collaborations!