Bioengineers bring new slant to stem-cell research

Author:Michael McCarthy

The article is making the point that the “the key to successfully engineering a human organ may lie not in the cells but in the design of the fine mesh scaffolding, typically created from natural proteins or synthetic polymers, on which the cells are grown.” The majority of the study for engineering a human organ has been put into stem cell research, prior to recent discoveries in dealing with the scaffolding structure or material. In fact, recent research has shown that the scaffolding (designed to mimic the extracellular matrix) not only holds cells together, but “conveys crucial information to cells that can control their growth and development.” As we’ve studied in physiology, “almost every property of the scaffolding—its chemistry, its shape, and the way it moves when stressed—can influence cell behavior.” The scientists conducting the research have found that, by taking a cell that is undifferentiated, and apply it with different stresses can “lead to altered gene expression and changes in cell function.” In Bio-Engineering, we learned that adipose cells and bone cells come are formed the way they are because of the shear stress that was exerted on them during the differentiation process. Scaffolding changes can also affect cell growth. The scientists were astonished when they were able to create “a sheet of highly organized, synchronously beating myocytes” (heart muscle) by simply setting up a specific geometric scaffolding that they felt would work for their experiment. The cells also formed gap junctions! This is essential in heart tissue.

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