Future biomaterials must simultaneously enhance tissue regeneration while minimizing immune responses and inhibiting infection. While the field of tissue engineering has promised to develop materials that can promote tissue regeneration for the entire body, such promises have not become reality. However, tissue engineering has experienced great progress due to the recent emergence of nanotechnology. Specifically, it has now been well established that increased tissue regeneration can be achieved on almost any surface by employing novel nano-textured surface features.
Numerous studies have reported that nanotechnology accelerates various regenerative therapies, such as those for the bone, vascular, heart, cartilage, bladder, and brain tissue. Various nanostructured polymers and metals (alloys) have been investigated for their bio and compatibility properties. This review paper discusses several of the latest nanotechnology findings in regenerative medicine (also now called nanomedicine) as well as their relative levels of success.
The technique relies on iron nanowires that bend in response to magnetic fields. Bone-forming stem cells grown on a mesh of these tiny wires get a kind of physical workout on the moving substrate. They subsequently grow into adult bone considerably quicker than in conventional culturing settings, with a differentiation protocol that lasts only a few days rather than a few weeks.
“We can achieve efficient bone cell formation in a shorter amount of time,” potentially paving the way for more efficient regeneration of bone. Marzipan co-led the study together with sensor scientist Jürgen and colleagues from their labs.
The scientists analyzed the bone-producing capability of their nanowire scaffold, both with and without magnetic signals. They patterned the tiny wires in an evenly spaced grid and then layered bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on top. Each of the tiny wires is about the size of the tail-like appendage found on some bacteria.
The researchers discovered that adding a low-frequency magnetic field greatly accelerated the process of bone development. Within two days of incubation under mechanical stimulation, genetic markers of bone development could be detected, while genes linked to stemless and self-renewal quickly became inactive. The scientists could also witness the cells rebuilding themselves to become more bone-like at a rapid rate under a microscope.
Next, the team plans to test its system in mouse models of degenerative bone disease, with the expectation that stem cell-seeded nanowire scaffolds can be safely implanted at sites of injury and promote tissue repair. An externally applied magnetic field would be used to speed the healing process.
Study author Jose Efrain Perez, a former Ph.D. student in KOS lab, also sees potential applications in other disease settings. As he points out: “Varying the matrix stiffness by increasing or decreasing nanowire length and diameter could promote differential responses with MSC,” Or they could use other types of stem cells to, for example, promote neuronal growth and brain repair after a stroke.
What’s more, Perez adds, “We could further customize the nanowire scaffold itself or the base material — for instance, by using different metals to exploit their magnetic responses or coating the nanowires with biomolecules for potential delivery upon cellular contact.”
For such a small technology, the possibilities are huge.
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