Electrospinning the Building Blocks for Regenerative Medicine
Researchers are using “medical spinning wheels” to advance tissue engineering.
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A Mayo Clinic in Arizona patient was the subject of international attention when he was part of a medical milestone: the first known total larynx transplant performed as part of a clinical trial and the first on a patient with active cancer in the United States. This groundbreaking achievement was the third known total larynx transplant in the country.
However, while thousands of Americans have lost their ability to speak, swallow and breathe independently due to damage to or the loss of their larynx, a lack of available donor organs makes it challenging for medical teams to provide this cutting-edge treatment.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic like Cheryl Myers, Ph.D., an immunobiologist who studies regenerative science applications, envision a future in which electrospinning can help address this shortage and provide hope to patients everywhere in need of organ transplants.
Electrospinning New Solutions
Researchers supported by the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics are using high-tech machines called electrospinners to create the building blocks of regenerative biotherapeutics. One of their most promising areas of research is the creation of 3D-printed, patient-specific larynges, which involves regenerating tissue types that include cartilage, muscle and epithelial tissue. 3D-printed larynges pose far less chance of rejection by the recipient, reducing the need for immunosuppressant drugs.
“If we can use electrospinning to mimic the extracellular matrix of the larynx and provide the scaffolding for cells to grow on, we potentially could improve the healing process in a way that’s controlled and safe,” Dr. Myers says. “Electrospun nanofibers play a crucial role in tissue regeneration and integration because they provide a scaffold for cell growth and mimic the natural extracellular matrix. By optimizing the various components that fabricate the 3D larynx, we could give a patient’s voice back to them.”
How Does an Electrospinner Work?
Electrospinners operate much like medical spinning wheels. They whip biotherapeutic fibers into a scaffold — or platform — using electrical forces that spin chemical solutions into nano- or micrometer-long fibers. In turn, that creates a porous base favorable for growing replacement cells.
“Electrospinning can produce scaffolds that closely mimic the physical environment cells naturally interact with,” explains Dr. Myers. “By customizing the electrospinning formula, it is possible to match the biochemical properties of the extracellular matrix, thereby influencing cell behavior. This is essential for tissue development and regeneration, making electrospinning an ideal platform for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.”
A Look Inside the Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics
The Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics is Mayo Clinic’s hub for biomanufacturing, a type of manufacturing that uses sources from the human body — cells, blood, enzymes, tissues, genes or genetically engineered cells — for use in medicines. Biotherapies have the potential for targeted healing with fewer side effects than traditional drugs.
The center plays a critical role in early-stage product development for clinical use at Mayo Clinic and collaborates with biotechnology companies to further accelerate the advancement of regenerative technologies.
Regenerative medicine has changed the focus of healthcare from fighting disease to restoring and building health. Through its biotherapeutics strategy, Mayo Clinic is advancing groundbreaking discoveries toward curative products.
Philanthropy in support of the Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics speeds up the timeline for early-stage therapies as they work through the development pipeline. Philanthropy also promotes healthcare equity by helping contain the cost of these therapies, a high priority for the center.
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The Future of Tissue Engineering
Tissue engineering is an emerging technology that offers hope for replacing and repairing damaged cells, tissue or organs. It may offer solutions for body tissue that does not regenerate, such as tissue that is not connected to blood supply, like cartilage.
Artificial joint replacements are often the only long-term solutions for areas like knees and hips after they have developed osteoarthritis as a result of no longer having cartilage.
In addition to work being done on 3D-printed larynges, Mayo Clinic researchers are using electrospinners to create skin patches that heal chronic wounds that have not responded to other treatments and to develop orthopedic patches to regenerate damaged cartilage around the rotator cuff in the shoulder.
Navigating Complexities
Researchers must address several challenges as they bring new tools like this to clinical care. Growing tissue requires researchers to identify the proper chemical compounds, growth factors and cells. Once that happens, clinical trials will be needed to advance electrospinning-developed tissue toward patient care.
Among the necessary trials, Dr. Myers explains, will be those that compare 3D-printed implants that do not use electrospinner-generated material with those that do, to confirm they enhance patients’ recovery.
“Electrospinning’s capability to produce fibers with tailored properties and functionalities makes it a valuable tool for advancing healthcare technologies,” says Dr. Myers. “This versatile technique can tackle several critical healthcare challenges, including tissue engineering, wound healing and drug delivery systems.”
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