HEALTH COACH - Restored ovarian function in sterile mice using 3-D scaffolding

HEALTH COACH -

 Restored ovarian function in sterile mice using 3-D scaffolding  





 In a new study, researchers use 3-D printing to make a porous scaffold and sow it with immature egg-producing cells. They show that sterile mice implanted with the artificial ovary are able to ovulate, associate, deliver and feed healthy puppies in a normal way. The study is the first to achieve such a result with the help of 3-D printing, and it shows how to use technology to refine the architecture of the pores of 39 Scaffolding is the key to success. 
 
  
  Researchers have allowed sterile mice to give birth to healthy offspring through ovaries operating in 3-D. 

 The research, published in  Nature Communications  is the work of a team that includes members of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and Northwestern McCormick School of Engineering in Evanston, both in Illinois. 

 Healthy ovaries are not only important for fertility; They also produce hormones that trigger puberty and menopause. 

  The researchers undertook the study because they want to find a way to help patients of all ages who undergo treatments (such as cancer) that alter their ovarian function . Young patients who lose ovarian function often need hormone replacement therapy to trigger puberty.  

 In their study paper, the authors note that current approaches - including in vitro fertilization (IVF) and ovarian transplantation - do not provide "long-term solutions and leave pediatric patients with Metastatic disease without options ". 

 There have been various attempts at ovarian engineering using a range of biomaterials combined with follicles - spherical pockets inside the ovaries that contain immature oocytes and produce hormones - but those Have had limited success. 

 The authors explain that one of the challenges for tissue engineering, a replacement ovary - which they describe as a "bioprosthetic" ovary, is to ensure that the follicles survive in The artificial environment. 

 Follicles should be held just in 3-D 

 To survive, the follicles must be held in a special way in the 3-D environment. They must stay in place to reach maturity, maintain contact with other cells and produce hormones. If they move too freely and spread, this will not happen. 

 Mouse studies using bioprosthetic ovaries from hydrogel scaffolds have managed to produce live births. So, that was the starting point of the new study. 

 Recent advances in 3D printing - also known as additive manufacturing - allow researchers to weave living and functional tissues using biocompatible structures that can contain cells and various parts 3-D support. 

 This so-called 3-D bioprammation has already been used for the engineering of tissues, skin, bones, cardiac tissue, cartilage and other parts of the body. 

  The researchers found that 3-D bioprametry offered them a way to modify the pores' architecture of the scaffold and use it to control the extent to which the follicles Are in place in 3-D.  

 They showed that the more interaction there was with the scaffolding, the less the follicles spread and the higher their chances of survival. 

 When the researchers transplanted the bioprosthetic ovaries into surgically sterilized mice, the mice were ovulated, successfully mated and spawned healthy ranges. They were even able to breastfeed their puppies. 

 First successful printing of autonomous gelatin scaffolding 

 The team used gelatin as "ink" to print the scaffold. This material is safe for use in humans and is rigid enough to be used in surgery, as well as sufficiently porous to allow the cells to interact with the surrounding tissue. 

 Principal researcher Ramille Shah, an assistant professor of surgery at Feinberg and of materials science and engineering at McCormick, explains that most hydrogels are too weak to produce a 3D structure. They are mainly made up of water and collapse. 

  "But we have found a gelatin temperature that allows it to be self-sufficient, no collapse, and lead to the construction of several layers," she adds. "No one else could print gelatin with such a defined and autonomous geometry."  

 The open architecture of the scaffold has done more than simply giving the follicles the proper 3-D support for egg maturation and ovulation. It also allowed the blood vessels to grow inside the implant so that released hormones can enter the bloodstream and trigger lactation in female mice, as evidenced by the fact that, 39 and were able to breastfeed their puppies. 

 The study brings the day closer when bio-engineered implants can be used in place of the transplanted donor tissue to restore ovarian function in humans. His main contribution is to show the potential of 3-D printing to be part of this journey. 

 
 "This is the first study that demonstrates that the architecture of scaffolding makes a difference in the survival of the follicles.We could not do it if we do not, Had not used a 3D printer platform. " 
 Ramille Shah 
 

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