Scientists have created a brand new ‘biocooperative’ material based on blood, which has shown to successfully repair bones, paving the way in which for personalised regenerative blood products that may very well be used as effective therapies to treat injury and disease.
Researchers from the Schools of Pharmacy and Chemical Engineering on the University of Nottingham have used peptide molecules that may guide key processes going down throughout the natural healing of tissues to create living materials that enhance tissue regeneration. The research published today in Advanced Materials.
Most of our body tissues have evolved to regenerate ruptures or fractures with remarkable efficacy, so long as these are small in size. This healing process is very complex. The initial stages depend on liquid blood forming the solid regenerative hematoma (RH), a wealthy and living microenvironment comprising key cells, macromolecules, and aspects that orchestrate regeneration.
The team developed a self-assembling methodology where synthetic peptides are mixed with whole blood taken from the patient to create a cloth that harnesses key molecules, cells, and mechanisms of the natural healing process. In this manner, it was possible to engineer regenerative materials able to not only mimicking the natural RH, but additionally enhancing its structural and functional properties.
These materials might be easily assembled, manipulated, and even 3D printed while maintaining normal functions of the natural RH, comparable to normal platelet behaviour, generation of growth aspects, and recruitment of relevant cells necessary for healing. With this method, the team has shown the capability to successfully repair bone in animal models using the animal’s own blood.
Alvaro Mata, who’s Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials within the School of Pharmacy and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering on the University of Nottingham and led the study, said: “For years, scientists have been taking a look at synthetic approaches to recreate the natural regenerative environment, which has proven difficult given its inherent complexity. Here, we’ve taken an approach to attempt to work with biology as a substitute of recreating it. This “biocooperative” approach opens opportunities to develop regenerative materials by harnessing and enhancing mechanisms of the natural healing process. In other words, our approach goals to make use of regenerative mechanisms that we’ve evolved with as fabrication steps to engineer regenerative materials”
Dr Cosimo Ligorio from the Faculty of Engineering on the University of Nottingham is co-author on the study, he says: “The likelihood to simply and safely turn people’s blood into highly regenerative implants is basically exciting. Blood is practically free and might be easily obtained from patients in relatively high volumes. Our aim is to determine a toolkit that may very well be easily accessed and used inside a clinical setting to rapidly and safely transform patients’ blood into wealthy, accessible, and tuneable regenerative implants”.
