2023-06-20 06:59:08
While hydrogels occur naturally in the human body, they can also be made synthetically. They can help the human body repair, replace or rebuild damaged tissue. But the modifications make hydrogels the ideal environment for cells to grow as they would in the human body. They can be 3D printed, opening up opportunities to improve cell therapies, test drugs and create small tissues.
Merlln Institute
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 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.”
Mimicking organs and tissues of the human body is not new. A human heart has been simulated in previous research in a laboratory of the Circulatory Health Research Center at UMC Utrecht. A protein was added to that model to see how a disease arises and develops.
Hydrogels & Silly Putty
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. The hydrogels thus adapt to the body and at the same time are familiar to the cells and behave in the same way as the toy Silly Putty: they can be stretched and squeezed without tearing. Like Silly Putty, they are self-healing and, after being subjected to forces, can return to their original structure or be used again.
3D printing makes hydrogels unique
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 pretty easy to do, but the implications are big. By combining hydrogels with human cells, we can 3D print a structure that grows outside the human body into human tissue,” Baker explains. This could improve the effectiveness of cell therapy therapies for osteoarthritis, for example, where cells are injected to repair or rebuild cartilage and thus reduce pain and stiffness in joints. In addition, 3D-printed tissue can be used for early-stage pharmacological testing, as an alternative to animal drug testing.
#Hydrogels #printer #repair #tissue