From Whiskers to Muscles

[Guest guest]

CHANGING THE WAY WE PRACTICE HEALTHCARE ON A NANOSCALE

Why could not these nanoscale structures heal anything - even CML????

-------------------------

" Minute whiskers of nanoscale dimensions taken from sea creatures could hold the

key to creating working human muscle tissue, University of Manchester

researchers have discovered. Scientists have found that cellulose from

tunicates, commonly known as sea squirts, can influence the behaviour of

skeletal muscle cells in the laboratory. These nanostructures are several

thousand times smaller than muscle cells and are the smallest physical feature

found to cause cell alignment.

" Alignment is important since a lot of tissue in the body, including muscle,

contains aligned fibres which give it strength and stiffness. Cellulose is a

polysaccharide - a long chain of sugars joined together - usually found in

plants and is the main component of paper and certain textiles such as cotton.

" It is already being used for a number of different medical applications,

including wound dressings, but this is the first time it has been proposed for

creating skeletal muscle tissue. Tunicates grow on rocks and man-made structures

in coastal waters around the world.

" Cellulose extracted from tunicates is particularly well suited for making

muscle tissue due to its unique properties.

" University of Manchester academics Dr Eichhorn and Dr Gough,

working with PhD student Dugan, chemically extract the cellulose in the

form of nanowhiskers. One nanometre is one billionth of a metre and these minute

whiskers are only 10s of nanometres wide - far thinner than a human hair. When

aligned and parallel to each other, they cause rapid muscle cell alignment and

fusion.

" The method is both simple and relatively quick, which could lead to doctors and

scientists having the ability to create the normal aligned architecture of

skeletal muscle tissue. This tissue could be used to help repair existing muscle

or even grow muscle from scratch. Creating artificial tissue which can be used

to replace damaged or diseased human muscles could revolutionise healthcare, and

be of huge benefit to millions of people all over the world. "

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/219044.php

********************

FYI,

Lottie Duthu