{"id":24446,"date":"2018-06-11T11:09:58","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T15:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=24446"},"modified":"2022-03-16T10:59:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T14:59:38","slug":"human-tissue-cells-origami-papers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/human-tissue-cells-origami-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Grow Human Tissue Cells in Origami Papers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dating back to the sixth century, the Japanese paper art of origami is making its modern comeback, not in arts and crafts, but in an engineering lab. <\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell are <\/span>using origami papers to develop biomaterials<\/span><\/a> that could be used to repair, replace or regenerate human body tissues and organs. <\/span><\/p>\n

Their study is published in <\/span>MRS Communications<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tissue and organ donations<\/b><\/h2>\n

Across the country, shortage of tissue and organ donors is a major problem with grim consequences. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2018 so far, according to the <\/span>U.S. Department of Health and Human Services<\/span><\/a>, only 10 percent of those on the national transplant waiting list have received organ transplants. Every day, 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant. <\/span><\/p>\n

To assist patients waiting helplessly for the next donor, researchers around the globe have come up with a number of engineering approaches to replace tissue and organ donation, such as <\/span>stem cells, bioprinting tissue, and artificial organs. However, too many times, these alternatives are very expensive and inaccessible to many patients. <\/span><\/p>\n

In her research, <\/span>Gulden Camci-Unal<\/span><\/a>, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at UMass Lowell and the study\u2019s lead researcher, wondered if she could use origami papers to solve this problem. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was always fascinated by the fact that paper, a very simple material, can make such versatile and intricate structures,\u201d she said. \u201cOver time, I realized that origami is not only an amazing art but also it is possible to use its design principles for very interesting scientific applications in medicine, engineering, space technologies, architecture and math.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing cells in origami papers<\/b><\/h2>\n

Camci-Unal and her team used plain paper as a three-dimensional biomaterial to create centimeter-scale scaffoldings where the cells can grow. <\/span><\/p>\n

Using <\/span>microfabrication<\/span><\/a> techniques, they developed biomimetic scaffolds, three-dimensional template materials that resemble native tissues. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese materials can be combined with cells that are obtained from the patient, cultured, expanded, grown, allowed to mature in a tissue incubator at physiological conditions and then implanted into the patient for tissue repair,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to Camci-Unal, because they use specific cells from the patient, they expect their method to be free from immune-rejection problems. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe anticipate that this approach will greatly help to generate new personalized treatment methods,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Image: Edwin Aguirre\/UMass Lowell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The advantages<\/b><\/h2>\n

So far, they have grown a number of different cell types using paper-based scaffolds, such as immortalized cell lines, human stem cells, and plant cells.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most recently, using the method, the team successfully had bone cells deposit their minerals on origami-folded paper scaffolds. The paper then can be implanted to treat patients with bone defects of irregular sizes and shapes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also, they are using origami papers to learn about the behavior of lung cancer cells. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTumor biopsies from patients can be grown in our system and then these cells can be exposed to different chemotherapy drugs or radiation doses to find out which specific treatment would work best for the patient,\u201d Camci-Unal said in a statement. <\/span><\/p>\n

Besides tissue engineering and organ models, the team is using paper as a material for various biomedical applications, such as personalized medicine and disease diagnostics and wound care. <\/span><\/p>\n

And all of this is possible mainly because of how accessible and abundant paper is. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaper is a low-cost and widely available substrate, which is virtually accessible to any lab all around the globe,\u201d said Camci-Unal. \u201cPaper is an extremely flexible material that can be easily cut, creased, folded, and manipulated to fabricate three-dimensional free-standing constructs. The resulting scaffolds are highly tunable in shape, size, and configuration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, the team\u2019s research indicates the paper scaffold implants are biocompatible, which means they will not be rejected by the body\u2019s immune system. <\/span><\/p>\n

The next step<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to Camci-Unal, her team will continue to move forward with testing the origami-inspired tissue scaffolds for regenerative applications. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the near future, they hope to bring this new technology to market for easy and low-cost access to patients. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUsing innovative ways to develop new biomaterials help us for achieving our ultimate goal: to improve human health and the quality of life,\u201d said Camci-Unal.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dating back to the sixth century, the Japanese paper art of origami is making its modern comeback, not in arts and crafts, but in an engineering lab. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell are using origami papers to develop biomaterials that could be used to repair, replace or regenerate human body tissues and organs. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":24452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,230,229,518,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medical-breakthrough","category-news","category-lead-stories","category-university-of-massachusetts-lowell","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2.jpg",830,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2-224x144.jpg",224,144,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2-300x193.jpg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2.jpg",830,533,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2.jpg",830,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2.jpg",830,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2.jpg",830,533,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Hyeyeun Jeon","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/author\/hyeyeun-jeon\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Dating back to the sixth century, the Japanese paper art of origami is making its modern comeback, not in arts and crafts, but in an engineering lab. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell are using origami papers to develop biomaterials that could be used to repair, replace or regenerate human body tissues and organs.…","featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/UMass-Lowell-origami-inspired-tissue-research-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}