’Off the shelf’ living artificial tissues could repair severe nerve injuries

Severe nerve damage has been successfully repaired in the laboratory using a new living artificial nerve tissue developed by UCL, ReNeuron and Sartorius Stedim Biotech. It opens up the possibility of a new 'off the shelf', universal therapy to improve the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries by removing the need for nerve grafts which cause additional damage and personalised stem cell therapies which take weeks to prepare. The study, published today in Scientific Reports and funded by Innovate-UK, shows a measurable recovery of motor and sensory function in damaged rat nerves repaired using the artificial tissue as a bridge between two severed nerve ends. "Peripheral nerve damage can be severe and extremely debilitating, causing a loss of sensation or movement and the possibility of chronic pain. It is often as a result of trauma from road traffic accidents and frequently affects young people at huge personal cost," explained Dr James Phillips, lead study author (UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering and UCL School of Pharmacy). Currently, there are no engineered cellular therapies to treat nerve damage and where large gaps exist in damaged nerves, grafts are taken from a healthy part of the body to repair a more important function. For example, a nerve that provides a sensory function in the foot may be used to repair movement in the arm.