Oxygen plus protein: Major breakthrough in bid to grow large human organs

Scientists have developed a new tissue engineering technology - overcoming one of the “major hurdles” for growing large organs. Research led by UK universities of Bristol and Liverpool found that cells can be combined with an oxygen-carrying protein to produce living tissue in the laboratory. It is hoped this can then be implanted into patients as a way of replacing diseased parts of the body. The technology has generally been limited to growing small pieces of tissue until now. This is because larger dimensions reduce the oxygen supply to cells in the centre.

It’s like supplying each cell with its own scuba tank, which it can use to breathe from when there is not enough oxygen in the local environment.

Dr Adam Perriman, from Bristol’s School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine

In the breakthrough, scientists used cartilage tissue engineering as a model system for testing a new method of overcoming the oxygen problem. The team made a new class of artificial membrane binding proteins that can be attached to stem cells. An oxygen-carrying protein, myoglobin, was attached to the stem cells before they were used to engineer cartilage. This meant each cell had its own oxygen reservoir that it could access when oxygen in the scaffold drops to dangerously low levels.

Creating larger pieces of cartilage gives us a possible way of repairing some of the worst damage to human joint tissue, such as the debilitating changes seen in hip or knee osteoarthritis or the severe injuries caused by major trauma, for example in road traffic accidents or war injuries.

Professor Anthony Hollander, University of Liverpool

Science tissue grow