Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Date: July 16, 2012
Summary:
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- New research shows that exercise is a key step in building a muscle-like implant in the lab with the potential to repair muscle damage from injury or disease. In mice, these implants successfully prompt the regeneration and repair of damaged or lost muscle tissue, resulting in significant functional improvement.
In the current issue of Tissue Engineering Part A, scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center build on their prior work and report their second round of experiments showing that placing cells derived from muscle tissue on a strip of biocompatible material - and then "exercising" the strip in the lab - results in a muscle-like implant that can prompt muscle regeneration and significant functional recovery. The researchers hope the treatment can one day help patients with muscle defects ranging from cleft lip and palate to those caused by traumatic injuries or surgery.
For the study, small samples of muscle tissue from rats and mice were processed to extract cells, which were then multiplied in the lab. The cells, at a rate of 1 million per square centimeter, were placed onto strips of a natural biological material. The material, derived from pig bladder with all cells removed, is known to be compatible with the body.
Next, the strips were placed in a computer-controlled device that slowly expands and contracts - essentially "educating" the implants on how to perform in the body. This cyclic stretching and relaxation occurred three times per minute for the first five minutes of each hour for about a week. In the current study, the scientists tried several different protocols, such as adding more cells to the strips during the exercise process.
The next step was implanting the strips in mice with about half of a large muscle in the back (latissimus dorsi) removed to create functional impairment. While the strips are "muscle-like" at the time of implantation, they are not yet functional. Implantation in the body - sometimes referred to as "nature's incubator" - prompts further development.
The goal of the project was to speed up the body's natural recovery process as well as prompt the development of new muscle tissue. The scientists compared four groups of mice. One group received no surgical repair. The other groups received implants prepared in one of three ways: one was not exercised before implantation, one was exercised for five to seven days, and one had extra cells added midway through the exercise process. The results showed that exercising the implants made a significant difference in both muscle development and function.
