September 4th, 2024
Press Release
Have you ever imagined using cells, as if they were Lego blocks, to create three dimensional living structures like human tissues?
A team of researchers from the University of Aveiro has developed an innovative technology whose principle allows the creation of a new class of implantable living materials that can transform the way organs and tissues are repaired or even replaced.
As with human tissue during development, creating tissue in the lab is usually a slow process, and relies on natural interactions between cells to form a supporting matrix. However, researchers from CICECO – Instituto de Materias de Aveiro and the COMPASS Research Group, led by Professor João Mano, have managed to modify human cells to rapidly join together, thus forming complex three-dimensional structures termed “Cellgels”, and regardless of the cell type used.
The innovation, recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Materials, enables the rapid and customized production of tissue-like structures that could revolutionize regenerative medicine. The technology, for which an international patent application has been filed by the University of Aveiro, is based on principles of cellular glycoengineering, and has bio-orthogonal click-chemistry as its fundamental component, which was recently recognized with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022.
“We have developed a way to modify the surface of cells so that they connect like a ‘lock-and-key’ system, allowing the rapid creation of living cellular materials with properties similar to those of human tissue “, the researchers explain.
These cells are “programmed” to behave like building blocks and can be manipulated and combined like living Lego pieces, thus creating tissues that are adaptable to different medical purposes, such as repairing damaged organs, and even “living machines” for industrial or environmental applications and the development of new foods.
“One of the most exciting aspects of this technology is that the materials we create are truly ‘alive’ in the sense that they can interpret their environment and actively interact with other tissues. These materials have the ability to self-repair and mechanically reinforce themselves over time, evolving in a similar way to skin or bones”, the team says.
Since conventional materials are not living, they cannot recover lost mass or adapt to different contexts instinctively. On the other hand, the Portuguese innovation not only allows the development of materials that incorporate these biological capabilities, but also shows greater therapeutic potential in skin regeneration compared to traditional hydrogels that contain cells.
Simplicity and scalability are two additional strong points of the technology. “Our technology does not require complex culture media, genetic modifications or expensive equipment“, the researchers highlight.
The team emphasizes Cellgels accessibility and ease of implementation in different laboratories, which can facilitate large-scale production.
Furthermore, the flexibility of this technique “allows different types of human cells to be combined to create customized tissues specific to each patient”, they emphasize, thus reinforcing the potential of this innovation for regenerative medicine.
The discovery represents a significant advance in the bioengineering of living tissues in the laboratory, unlocking new possibilites to repair damaged human tissues through personalized cell therapies.
Information Box
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The materials are no longer what they used to be:
Materials have always been essential for the development of tools and solutions for different applications. They have been used everywhere, from the simplest apparatus, to extremely sophisticated devices, in areas such as microelectronics, nanoparticles for medical applications or structures used in the aerospace industry. Traditionally, materials have been classified based on their molecular characteristics, such as metals, ceramics or polymers (plastics or macromolecules of natural origin). However, although man-made materials are capable of changing their properties in time and space, or that are capable of responding to external stimuli, such as changes in temperature or exposure to light, these systems are essentially inert.
In the living world, cells behave quite differently. In this universe, cells adapt to multiple environmental conditions, produce proteins to communicate and interact with each other and give rise, for example, to organs or complex organisms. In the living world, cells can multiply, mature, evolve over time and even exhibit a performance that can be programmed at the level of genes.
Biology is the most complex known manufacturing platform, both at the molecular and macro-scale. In this sense, the “ biologization ” of materials science assumes that biology has intrinsic properties that are far from being achieved by synthetic materials, and aims to pave the way for the development of a new generation of materials – “living” materials, with exotic functionalities.
The totally disruptive concept, explored by the research team at the University of Aveiro, involves using these living systems to manufacture devices with entirely new properties, and with the ability to replace conventional materials in some of the most demanding applications.
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The work is published as:
Pedro Lavrador, Beatriz S. Moura, José Almeida-Pinto, Vítor M. Gaspar, João F. Mano – Engineered nascent living human tissues with unit programmability. Nature Materials (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01958-1
Check also the research highlight featured in Nature Reviews Bioengineering Bakhshandeh, S. Cells as active crosslinkers in living materials. Nat Rev Bioeng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-024-00244-8
