MAR 29, 2024 JLM 68°F 10:14 AM 03:14 AM EST
Bioprinted implant may help paralyzed people walk again

First-ever spinal cord implant to treat paralysis without risk of rejection is successfully tested on mice; human trials expected by end of 2024.

Medical science has not yet found a way to restore walking ability in someone paralyzed from a traumatic spinal cord injury.

Within a few years, a first-of-its-kind 3D-printed spinal cord tissue implant, made from the patient’s own cells, could make that dream come true.

Using technology developed over the course of a decade in Prof. Tal Dvir’s regenerative biotechnology lab at Tel Aviv University, the implant enabled paralyzed lab mice to walk again.

A paper published today in Advanced Science provides the remarkable details.

“It is like science fiction,” says Dr. Asaf Toker, CEO of Matricelf, the company working to bring Dvir’s groundbreaking technology to market.

ISRAEL21c readers may recall that two years ago, Dvir’s lab 3D-printed the world’s first miniature vascularized human heart.

Dvir and Alon Sinai cofounded Matricelf that year and it went public in 2021. On January 30, the company signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with Tel Aviv University technology transfer company Ramot to commercialize and utilize the patent for 3D-printing tissues and organs.

No rejection

Dvir explained that the technique begins with taking a small biopsy of belly fat tissue from the patient.

“This tissue, like all tissues in our body, consists of cells together with an extracellular matrix of substances like collagens and sugars,” he explained.

“After separating the cells from the extracellular matrix, we used genetic engineering to reprogram the cells, reverting them to a state that resembles embryonic stem cells capable of becoming any type of cell in the body.”

The extracellular matrix didn’t go to waste. It formed the basis of a personalized hydrogel that will not trigger an immune response or rejection after implantation – which is the main problem with donor implants.

“This is the first instance in the world in which implanted engineered human tissues have generated recovery in an animal model for long-term chronic paralysis – which is the most relevant model for paralysis treatments in humans,” Dvir said.

“Individuals injured at a very young age are destined to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives, bearing all the social, financial, and health-related costs of paralysis” because there has never been an effective treatment, Dvir pointed out.

“Our goal is to produce personalized spinal cord implants for every paralyzed person, enabling regeneration of the damaged tissue with no risk of rejection.”

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