Wearable Bioreactor Regenerates Limbs

Nov-07-18 A novel wearable bioreactor from the team at Tufts University could help regrow lost limbs.

Though still in the very early stages, the breakthrough research from Tufts shows great promise. To explore their regenerative therapy, the team turned to the African clawed frog, which is not able to regenerate limbs as an adult. The team applied a wearable device containing a silk protein-based hydrogel to the injury site, where the small amount of the steroid hormone progesterone were delivered directly to the wound. After a 24-hour application, the frog’s hind limb showed signs of partial regeneration over a nine-month period.

According to biology Professor Michael Levin, “We’ll be using the bioreactor model as a new platform for finding ‘master regulator’ control points, activated by drugs which, after a very brief treatment, trigger a long program of tissue growth and remodeling—as well as other factors that support the entire process of regeneration.”

Image Credit: Celia Herrera-Rincon - A limb wound of an adult frog usually leads to the formation of a cartilaginous ‘spike’ (left). However, treatment with progesterone using a silk hydrogel device for 24 hrs led to the formation of a paddle-like structure (right).

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