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Scientists use transgenic silk moth silk to grow skeletal muscle cells

Scientists use transgenic silk moth silk to grow skeletal muscle cells
Scientists use transgenic silk moth silk to grow skeletal muscle cells

 


Researchers at Utah State University hope to use silk moth silk to grow skeletal muscle cells, improve traditional cell culture methods, and lead to better treatments for muscle atrophy.

When scientists understand the disease and try to test treatments, they generally grow model cells on a flat plastic surface (think Petri dishes). However, since muscle tissue is mainly three-dimensional, there is a limit to the growth of cells on a two-dimensional surface.

Thus, USU researchers have developed a three-dimensional cell culture surface by growing cells on silk fibers wrapped around an acrylic chassis. The team used both native and transgenic silk moth silk. The latter was produced by spider silk moths modified with the spider silk gene.

Native silk moth silk was previously used as a 3D cell culture model, but this is the first time transgenic silk moth silk has been used for skeletal muscle modeling.Elizabeth Bargis, Matthew Craig, Jacob Bernie of the Faculty of Bioengineering, and Justin Jones, Thomas Harris, and Shaori Chan of the Faculty of Biology share the findings. ACS Biomaterial Science & Engineering..

Silk moth silk-grown cells have been shown to more closely mimic human skeletal muscle than cells grown on normal plastic surfaces. These cells showed increased mechanical flexibility and increased expression of genes required for muscle contraction. Spirogyra silk also promoted proper muscle fiber alignment, which is a necessary element for robust muscle modeling.

Skeletal muscles move the skeleton, stabilize joints, and protect internal organs. Deterioration of these muscles can occur for a myriad of reasons, which can occur quickly. For example, after just two weeks of fixation, nearly a quarter of the quadriceps muscle strength can be lost. Understanding how fast muscles atrophy must begin at the cellular level, where cells grow to better represent reality.

The overall goal of my research is to build a better in vitro model. Researchers grow cells on these 2D platforms, which is not very realistic, but provides a lot of information. Based on those results, they usually move to animal models and then to clinical trials where the majority of them fail. I am trying to add to that first step by developing more realistic in vitro models of normal and lesioned tissue... “

Elizabeth Barghis, Associate Professor of Biotechnology, Utah State University

Source:

Journal reference:

Craig, MH, et al.. (2020) Silk moth silk fiber bundle as an improved in vitro scaffold for skeletal muscle. ACS Applied Biomaterial.. doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00987..

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