Scientists in Sweden have successfully used a technique known as tissue engineering to create a functional esophagus. The bioengineered esophagus was also successfully transplanted in a lab rat.
The new breakthrough was reported by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. After constructing the esophagi, the Swedish researchers were able to transplant the organs into lab rats. The researchers also noted that the transplanted organs showed signs of regeneration. The lab rats were starting the regeneration blood vessels, epithelials, muscles and even nerves. The new breakthrough could bring about a revolution in regenerative medicine. Moreover, the technique could also one day be used to treat patients affected by throat cancer.
"We believe that these very promising findings represent major advances towards the clinical translation of tissue engineered esophagi", said Karolinska Institutet Advanced Center for Translational Regenerative Medicine (ACTREM) director Paolo Macchiarini.
The scientists working on the study were able to engineer the replacement organs by first extracting esophagi from other rats. Once the organs were successfully extracted, they were then treated to remove all of the living cells. In order for the bioengineering process to proceed, scientists only needed the scaffold structures of the organ. Bone marrow cells were then added to the structure to start regrowing the organ. However, the scientists used cells that exhibited low immunogenicity. This was done to ensure that immunosuppressive drugs would not be needed once the completed organ was transplanted into a patient.
Once the bone marrow cells started growing, it only took a relatively short amount of time for the cells to exhibit the characteristics of the cells normally found in an esophagus. The process of growing a new rat esophagus takes less than a month.
After the organ was completed, the researchers transplanted the esophagi into lab rats and observed what happened afterwards. Two weeks following the transplants, the lab rats were healthy and showed remarkable signs of regeneration. The muscles, nerves and other tissues in the transplanted organs were in good condition as well. The team published its findings in the online journal Nature Communications.
"Explanted grafts show regeneration of all the major cell and tissue components of the oesophagus including functional epithelium, muscle fibres, nerves and vasculature," says the study. "We consider the presented tissue-engineered oesophageal scaffolds a significant step towards the clinical application of bioengineered oesophagi."
Aside from potential applications in the treatment of throat cancer, the researchers are also optimistic that their study could also have implications for the treatment of other malignant diseases.
