2023-05-10 09:51:24
Hydrogels are a special type of material that can support the growth of human cells and create tissues such as skin or connective tissue. While hydrogels occur naturally in the human body, they can also be made synthetically. Researchers at Maastricht University have refined these synthetic hydrogels and can therefore accurately mimic human tissue. These adaptations make hydrogels the ideal environment for cells to grow as they would in the human body. These hydrogels can be printed in 3D, which offers opportunities to improve cell therapies, test drugs and make small tissues. Maastricht University reports this.
Hydrogels provide the perfect environment for human cells to grow into tissues such as skin, cartilage or connective tissue. These hydrogels occur naturally in the human body, for example in the form of collagen. Because it is known how the body makes these hydrogels, researchers can copy them. These synthetic hydrogels can be used in medical treatments of damaged tissue, such as skin wounds or a torn knee ligament. They can help the human body repair, replace or rebuild damaged tissue.
Until now, synthetic hydrogels have provided a place for human cells to survive, but the tissue that grew from those cells was not as complex as natural human tissue. Matt Baker, assistant professor at Maastricht University’s MERLN Institute, explains: “The human cells in synthetic hydrogels were like bears in the zoo. Bears can survive in a small cage with only water and food. But to to behave naturally, they need an environment filled with trees, vegetation and rivers. Similarly, we need synthetic hydrogels that mimic the superstructure of the human body so that cells can function as they would in the human body.”
Natural environment
Baker and his team have discovered how to create a more “natural habitat” for human cells. By adding fatty molecules to the hydrogels, they can mimic the complex properties of natural hydrogels: soft and with a fibrous structure. But it goes further than that. The hydrogels behave in the same way as the Silly Putty toy: they can be stretched and squeezed without tearing. Like Silly Putty, hydrogels are self-healing and, after being subjected to forces, can return to their original structure or be reused. So they adapt to the body and at the same time are familiar to the cells.
According to Baker, tuning the size and amount of fatty molecules holds the key to creating a realistic cell environment for making different types of tissues. “By ‘playing’ with the amount of fatty molecules we add, we control the properties of the hydrogels,” he says. “By adding more fatty molecules, you get relatively elastic hydrogels that are suitable for making skin tissue, for example. By adding fewer fatty acids, softer, more fluid hydrogels are created that are ideal for, for example, brain tissue and fat, because they must be deformable. So we can tailor hydrogels to the specific part of the body where we want to use them.”
Artificial material
Although adding fatty molecules to hydrogels is simple for chemists, the result has important consequences. In particular because they are 3D printable, which is unique to these hydrogels. “It’s quite simple to do, but the implications are big. By combining hydrogels with human cells, we can 3D print a structure that grows into human tissue outside the human body,” Baker explains. improve cell therapy therapies for osteoarthritis, for example, where cells are injected to repair or build up cartilage to reduce pain and stiffness in joints, and 3D-printed tissue can be used for early-stage pharmacology testing, as an alternative to drug testing on animals.
The classic idea behind tissue engineering is that 3D-printed tissue is implanted in the body, where it repairs, replaces or rebuilds damaged tissue. Baker: “People like to talk about 3D printing a heart. Although we are still a long way from that, 3D printing a mix of realistic cell environments and human cells is one of the many steps we need to take towards the 3D printing patient-specific organs.”
By: National Care Guide
#Dutch #scientists #printed #synthetic #human #cells