Cyborg Fabrics
A group of researchers from several scientific institutions, working under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Kohane from the Boston Children's Clinic, has developed a method for creating three-dimensional bioengineered tissues permeated with a network of biocompatible nanowires. This development is a real breakthrough in tissue engineering, as it opens up new prospects in the creation of artificial tissues that provide the possibility of stimulation and monitoring of the condition, as well as systems for screening new drugs.
One of the serious difficulties in the development of bioengineered tissues is the creation of systems that could register what is happening (chemical, electrical and other processes) in the tissue after its formation and/or implantation. Until now, specialists have also failed to develop methods for directly stimulating bioengineered tissues and measuring the activity of cellular reactions.
In the conditions of the body, the autonomic nervous system monitors changes in the levels of acidity, oxygen, as well as various chemicals and biologically active factors and triggers the necessary reactions in the internal organs. In order to influence the processes occurring in the implant at the cellular and tissue levels, it is necessary to create a system of feedback loops similar to those formed in the body during evolution.
To do this, the authors have developed three-dimensional structures of interlacing silicon oxide fibers with a diameter of 80 nm. The porosity of the resulting structures allows them to be seeded with cells, which subsequently form three-dimensional cultures.
Using cardiac cardiomyocytes and nerve cells as a material, as well as several biocompatible materials, they successfully grew tissue samples permeated with nanowires, the presence of which had no effect on cell viability and activity. A network of nanowires allows scientists to register electrical signals generated by cells located deep in the tissue, as well as to evaluate changes in the intensity of these signals under the influence of cardio or neurostimulating drugs.
In the figure from the article by Tian et al. Macroporous nanowire nanoelectronic scaffolds for synthetic tissues, published online on August 26 in the journal Nature Materials, – 2 angles of a three-dimensional reconstruction of a section of "cyborg tissue" measuring 127x127x68 microns obtained using a confocal microscope. The neurons of the rat hippocampus are illuminated with red fluorescent dye, the frame of nanowires is colored yellow, white arrows mark the sections of blue metal conductors inside the plastic frame.
The latest achievement was the creation of bioengineered blood vessels, the walls of which are also permeated with nanowires, allowing to assess changes in pH levels inside and outside the vessels. Such changes are a natural reaction to inflammation, ischemia and other changes caused by biochemical or cellular factors.
According to the authors, the approach they have developed can make a revolution in bioengineering. For example, almost always the goal of similar developments is to create a framework for growing tissue, which subsequently degrades and decomposes in the body. The new approach implies the preservation of the skeleton and, moreover, its active role in the functioning of the implant.
The developers see many possible applications of the new technology, ranging from the creation of bioengineered "cyborg tissues" capable of registering changes occurring in the body and triggering appropriate responses (drug release, electrical stimulation, etc.), and other implantable therapeutic or diagnostic devices, and ending with the development of so-called "laboratories on a chip" for screening libraries of small molecules in search of new drugs.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Boston Children's Hospital:
Researchers develop method to grow artificial tissues with embedded nanoscale sensors29.08.2012