Nanofiber-hydrogel composite allows soft tissue to regenerate

A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has developed a gel that, when injected into test animals, allowed new soft tissue to grow—replacing lost tissue.

When a person loses a chunk of soft tissue due to an accident, infection or surgical procedure, surgeons have very few options available to induce the body to regenerate the missing tissue, leaving patients with disfiguring reminders of their loss. In this new effort, the researchers have developed a new gel that shows promise as a soft-tissue regenerative tool.

To make the gel, the team created nanofibers using a polymer that was known to biodegrade easily. It has been used for several years in real medical applications. Next, the nanofibers were treated to allow some of them to bind with hyaluronic acid—it, too, has been used in real medical applications—in this case, to create gels that promote infiltration by macrophages, which leads the body to create blood vessels. The result was an easily injectable gel that could serve as a scaffolding that also promotes regeneration of lost soft tissue.

Read more at Medical Xpress

Image Credit: Science Translational Medicine

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