just saw this on the news today.. quite facinating it is. they showed a guy who grew back his finger using this technology.
Growing new body parts
Scientists at UPMC discover keys to regenerative medicine
Researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a joint project of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, have developed a material that encourages the body to regrow damaged tissues, including skin, muscle, and tendons.
This material, first isolated from pig tissue about 20 years ago, is known as a “biologic scaffold.” In the same way that scaffolding supports workers and materials for a building under construction, this material supports the growth of new cells and blood vessels.
The scaffold is made of collagen, the protein that makes up most of our skin and bones, and growth factors, substances that guide cells to become certain kinds of tissues. While the healing process usually produces scar tissue, which is not as strong as normal tissue, the scaffold’s growth factors encourage the development of strong, healthy tissue. As the new tissue grows across it, the scaffold is harmlessly absorbed by the body. No matter where it is placed, the body tends to turn the scaffolding into the type of tissue needed.
It is not a perfect regeneration of tissue, but it is close.
“The scaffold is the biologic soup, or substrate, in which all of these cells live, survive, and grow,” says Stephen Badylak, DVM, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Preclinical Studies at McGowan.
The scaffold has already helped more than 300,000 patients worldwide in ways ranging from the repair of large wounds and hernias, to treatments for urinary stress and urge incontinence. Diabetic skin wounds, which heal poorly because of impaired circulation, heal much better when covered with scaffold material. As a result, people with diabetes who have chronic wounds are able to maintain their mobility longer and avoid the need for limb amputation.
The scaffold also is used in babies to correct birth defects of the urinary tract. Recently, the product was even used to grow new dura, the membrane that surrounds the brain, allowing Siamese twins connected at the head to be successfully separated.
“The scaffold is used by general surgeons, neurologists, cardiovascular surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, and others,” says Dr. Badylak.
Dr. Badylak is leading researchers at McGowan in the development of the next generation of regenerative components. A powdered form of the scaffold can be pressed into the exact shape needed by a surgeon, perhaps for facial reconstruction after an accident, or it can be formed into the shape of a new organ, like a liver. The scaffold powder also can be mixed with saline and injected, for example into the circle of muscle at the top of the stomach to cure acid reflux, or into an injured knee tendon to help it regrow.
Researchers at UPMC are currently working with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and scientists around the world to create a scaffold that encourages the growth of pancreas cells. If successful, this project may eventually lead to a cure for diabetes.
“As we get into more complicated and complex organ engineering, one of the things we’re learning is that these advanced biologic scaffolds need to be very specific,” says Dr. Badylak. His team is experimenting with ways to give the scaffold a jump start into becoming a particular kind of tissue by seeding it with specific types of cells. Dr. Badylak is leading a project to regenerate the esophagus with a scaffold formed into a tube and covered with the patient’s own cells. These cue the growth of the certain kind of muscles that move food to the stomach.
Dr. Badylak believes these advances will someday even regenerate new limbs.
“It’s very satisfying to see how our work in the laboratory is benefiting patients and changing lives,” says Dr. Badylak
REF: LIMBS