Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors







Heifer International

Wikipedia Affiliate Button


Home > Press > Nanoscale whiskers from sea creatures could grow human muscle tissue

Abstract:
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.

Nanoscale whiskers from sea creatures could grow human muscle tissue

Manchester, UK | Posted on March 14th, 2011

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 Stephen Eichhorn and Dr Julie Gough, working with PhD student James 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.

Dr Eichhorn thinks the cellulose extracted from the creatures could lead to a significant medical advancement. He added: "Although it is quite a detailed chemical process, the potential applications are very interesting.

"Cellulose is being looked at very closely around the world because of its unique properties, and because it is a renewable resource, but this is the first time that it has been used for skeletal muscle tissue engineering applications.

"There is potential for muscle precision engineering, but also for other architecturally aligned structures such as ligaments and nerves."

PhD student James Dugan has become the first UK student to win the American Chemical Society's Cellulose and Renewable Material Division award for his work on nanowhiskers.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Daniel Cochlin
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
0161 275 8387



Suzanne Ross
+44 (0) 161 275 8384

Copyright © The University of Manchester

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

News and information

How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013

Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013

Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013

Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013

Nanomedicine

UofL scientists uncover how grapefruits provide a secret weapon in medical drug delivery May 22nd, 2013

Single-Cell Transfection Tool Enables Added Control for Biological Studies: McCormick researchers develop method of delivering molecules into targeted cells May 22nd, 2013

How Gold Nanoparticles Can Help Fight Ovarian Cancer May 21st, 2013

MU Researchers Develop Radioactive Nanoparticles that Target Cancer Cells: This is an early step toward developing therapies for metastasized cancers, MU scientist says May 21st, 2013

Discoveries

How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013

Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013

Whirlpools on the Nanoscale Could Multiply Magnetic Memory: At the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab scientists join an international team to control spin orientation in magnetic nanodisks May 22nd, 2013

Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater May 22nd, 2013

Announcements

How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013

Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013

Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013

Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE





  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoTech-Transfer
University Technology Transfer & Patents
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More












ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project








abbigliamento uomo
Computer Accessories
© Copyright 1999-2013 7th Wave, Inc. All Rights Reserved PRIVACY POLICY :: CONTACT US :: STATS :: SITE MAP :: ADVERTISE