Global Health Asia-Pacific August 2021 August 2021(clone) | Page 31

Scientists make strides in tissue regeneration

Scientists make strides in tissue regeneration

Teams use molecular and biomedical methods to rebuild muscle and bones

We can rebuild him ; we have the technology .” Almost common outcomes . half a century after fictional scientists gave us a

While a few clinical trials of tissue engineering have glimpse into the future of bionics in the popular television been conducted around the world , key bioengineering series The Six Million Dollar Man , researchers have now challenges still need to be addressed for 3D bioprinting found new ways to repair the human body in a flurry of technology to become a standard part of a surgeon ’ s breakthroughs in tissue regeneration . toolkit .
Among the most headline-worthy were two
The �MIT team ’ s approach takes tiny scaffolds that developments announced in May on different sides of can be implanted in the body to support cell regrowth the world . At the Salk Institute in California , researchers but which were thought to be too small and intricate said they had identified a way to regenerate muscle for standard 3D printing . Making these structures cells in a way that would help athletes and ageing adults complex enough for cells to thrive has been a significant regenerate tissue more effectively . challenge .
In Melbourne , Royal Melbourne Institute of
Instead of fabricating these bioscaffolds directly , Technology ( RMIT ) engineers reported using 3D printing the team 3D-printed moulds with intricately patterned to create intricate biomedical structures for regrowing cavities then filled them with biocompatible materials , bones and tissue . after which the moulds would dissolve away . One of the effects of ageing is loss of muscle mass , In this way , the team could create fingernail-sized which contributes to disability in older people . To bioscaffolds full of elaborate structures that , until now , counter this loss , the Salk scientists have been studying were considered impossible . ways to accelerate the regeneration of muscle tissue
“ The size of the nozzle on a standard 3D printer is using a combination of molecular compounds that are too big to make these shapes because it has to be big commonly used in stemcell research . enough to let the material through it ,” lead researcher Dr
They ’ ve shown that using so-called “ Yamanaka Cathal O ’ Connell told Global Health Asia-Pacific� factors ”, or proteins , increases the regeneration of
�What we did was flip this approach so that we muscle cells in mice by activating the precursors of printed a mould so that the empty spaces within it muscle cells , called myogenic progenitors . Although would form the complex microstructures where cells more work is needed before this approach can be will flourish . This technique will work with medical-grade applied in humans , the research provides insight into the materials and can even be done with a basic 3D printer .” underlying mechanisms related to muscle regeneration and growth and could one day help athletes and ageing adults regenerate tissue more effectively .
“ Loss of these progenitors has been connected to age-related muscle degeneration ,” said senior author Dr Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte on the release of the research . �Our study uncovers specific factors that are able to accelerate muscle regeneration , as well as revealing the mechanism by which this occurred .”
Yamanaka factors are a combination of proteins that control how DNA is copied for translation into other proteins . In lab research , they ’ re used to convert specialised cells , such as skin cells , into more stemcelllike cells that are pluripotent , which means they have the ability to become many different types of cells .
The investigators are also studying other ways to rejuvenate cells , including using mRNA and genetic engineering . These techniques could eventually lead to new approaches to boost tissue and organ regeneration .
Meanwhile , the Australian team have turned to the emerging field of tissue engineering to harness the human body ’ s natural ability to heal itself by rebuilding bone and muscle lost to tumours or injury .
Currently there are few treatment options for people who lose a significant amount of bone or tissue due to illness or injury , making amputation or metal implants
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