This injectable minimally invasive treatment delivers enhanced secretome harvested from electrically stimulated cells to damaged tissue, thereby promoting tissue regeneration noninvasively. Biological cells and tissues produce a variety of proteins and molecular structures that are excreted into the extracellular space. These excreted molecules are collectively known as the secretome. Local electrical stimulation (E-stim) has shown to promote tissue regeneration, however delivering E-stim to many tissues in vivo remains overly invasive.
Researchers at the University of Florida have shown enhanced secretome from E-stim of donor cells, cell lines, or a patient’s own cells can be purified and concentrated for use as an injectable low-volume, low-risk therapeutic in tissue regeneration. This could also be combined with cell delivery methods, for a combinatorial approach. The global market for such tissue engineering is projected to exceed $11 billion by 2022. This technology also overcomes the detrimental immune response that can be elicited by large volume applications of current cell-based tissue regenerative therapeutics.
Injectable secretome harvested from electrically stimulated cells as a therapeutic for tissue regeneration and tissue engineering
This injectable composition delivers enhanced secretome to damaged tissue to stimulate tissue regeneration and healing. Specific cells isolated from a variety of species depending on the target organ or tissue undergo electrical stimulation for a period of at least 24 hours in vitro. The electrical pulses promote cell secretome production and enhance the proteins, growth factors, and other molecules in the secretome. Controlling the electrical stimulation may tune the secretome for specific regenerative applications. Once isolated and collected, the secretome combines with an injectable hydrogel, forming a delivery system that localizes the secretome at the site of the damaged tissue following injection.
