UCL in the News: Putting the Squeeze on Nanothreads to Spin Living Tissue

Scientists using an electrically charged needle have electrospun nanosize threads of cells encased in plastic polymers to create living microfibers that promote tissue regrowth.

Unfortunately, the electrical charge can hurt both the spun cells and the scientists doing the spinning. But now Dr Suwan Jayasinghe and Dr Sumathy Arumuganathar [UCL Mechanical Engineering] have invented a way to spin nanothreads using only pressure and, with the help of medical colleagues, shown that they can create such nanothreads of living heart tissue, potentially revealing the way to weave an entirely new, healthy heart or even fresh, new skin.

"[We can] remove the electric field and use pressure to draw the fibres," Jayasinghe says. "You can make scaffolds with living cells with this technique as well, which shows that this technique can be used right across the board." …

The technique may allow researchers to create living scaffolds of cells to deliver drugs as well as grow or regenerate the heart and other organs. …

The pressure technique tends to deliver cells in clusters but researchers say the problem may be solved by smoothing out the spacing of the cell mixture. …

The team is now testing the gene production of the resultant cellular nanothreads to determine their safety. …

David Biello, 'Scientific American'