This biomaterial combining a DNA-collagen complex with magnetoelectric fibers can enable a variety of tissue-regenerative biomedical applications. Analysts project the global market for tissue regeneration biomaterials to exceed $149 billion by 2025 . Cross-linked collagen has many uses for biomedical tissue regeneration, making materials that restore skin, tendons, cartilage, and bone and help injuries heal quicker. However, cross-linking typically requires chemicals and additives that are toxic. Electric stimulation can promote the regeneration of several tissues including nerves, but standard techniques require electrical leads, which are too invasive to treat many injuries in vivo.
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a composite of DNA-collagen and magnetoelectric nanofibers to use as a biomaterial for in vivo tissue regeneration. The collagen cross-links using DNA instead of toxic chemicals. This biomaterial allows delivery of electric fields from within the body to provide stimulation treatment without the use of invasive electrical leads.
Non-toxic, functionalized biomaterial that enables local neurite regeneration via non-invasive magnetoelectric stimulation
This composite material forms by combining magnetoelectric nanofibers with a complex of short, single-stranded DNA aptamers and collagen. The DNA aptamers are able to cross-link collagen to form a DNA-collagen complex. The complex can have different biological properties depending on the sequence of the aptamer, its geometry, and its concentration. This complex then mixes with an aqueous solution of magnetoelectric fibers, which can locally generate electric fields with the application of an external magnetic field. This allows the resulting fiber, nanoparticle, or 3D hydrogel biomaterial structure to deliver long term electric stimulation that promotes neurite regeneration without the use of invasive electrical leads.
