Injectable Regenerative Filler for Wounds and Defects in Tissue
The use of nanoscale scaffolding material mixed with cells - to spur repair of wounds that would otherwise not heal - is becoming more sophisticated: "scientists have made star-shaped, biodegradable Polymer>polymers that can self-assemble into hollow, nanofiber spheres, and when the spheres are injected with cells into wounds, these spheres biodegrade, but the cells live on to form new tissue. ... The procedure gives hope to people with certain types of cartilage injuries for which there aren't good treatments now. ... To repair complex or oddly shaped tissue defects, an injectable cell carrier is desirable to achieve accurate fit and to minimize surgery. [Researchers have been] working on a biomimetic strategy to design a cell matrix - a system that copies biology and supports the cells as they grow and form tissue - using biodegradable nanofibers. ... the nanofibrous hollow microspheres are highly porous, which allows nutrients to enter easily, and they mimic the functions of cellular matrix in the body. Additionally, the nanofibers in these hollow microspheres do not generate much [in the way of] degradation byproducts that could hurt the cells. ... The nanofibrous hollow spheres are combined with cells and then injected into the wound. When the nanofiber spheres, which are slightly bigger than the cells they carry, degrade at the wound site, the cells they are carrying have already gotten a good start growing because the nanofiber spheres provide an environment in which the cells naturally thrive. This approach has been more successful than the traditional cell matrix currently used in tissue growth ... Until now, there has been no way to make such a matrix injectable so it's not been used to deliver cells to complex-shaped wounds."
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110417185353.htm