Dear Medicos, Docs, and friends of science

Silk may be able to help repair damaged nerves, according to scientists.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5172422.stm
Nerve cells growing along fibres (purple) produced from a specially modified
silk. The supporting Schwann cells, whose nuclei are shown in blue, attach to
the fibres and support the growth of the nerve cells. (Image: J.Priestley)

Blood vessels in the retina, by Freya Mowat. See other winners


The UK researchers have shown how nerve cells can grow along bundles of a
special fibre, which has properties similar to spider silk. They hope the silk
will encourage cell re-growth across severed nerves, possibly even in damaged
spinal cords. A picture of nerve cells growing on the silk is one of the winning
images in this year's Wellcome Trust Biomedical Image Awards. It is one of 26
images - many revealing objects invisible to the naked eye - captured from
medical research programmes across Britain.

Bridging the gap

The silk, dubbed Spidrex, comes from silk worms that have been modified to give
the fibres special properties that help cells to bind. Professor John Priestley,
a neuroscientist from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, and
lead researcher, said the silk acted as a scaffold on which nerve cells could
grow. The team has tested the silk in tissue culture (shown in the winning
image) and in animals - and in both cases, said Professor Priestly, the results
had been good.

He added: "The picture shows two things: reddish coloured processors, which are
the nerve fibres growing along the silk; and blue supporting cells, called
Schwann cells, which are very important in supporting nerve regeneration. "And
in animal studies we have shown, both in the spinal cord and in peripheral
nerves, the silk fibres support nerve growth."
Professor Priestley said that one of the benefits of the silk was that it could
be assembled into complex tubes designed to fit the nerves or the length of the
gap that needed bridging. The team hopes the silk can be used to treat patients
whose peripheral nerves - the nerves that control muscle and provide sensation -
have been severed: someone who has received a bad cut to the hand, for example.
A more ambitious goal, explained Professor Priestly, would be to use the silk to
help repair damaged spinal cords, but this would be much more complex, he
stressed. The award-winning images are on display at the Wellcome Library, 210
Euston Rd, London, from 13 July




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