First developed live optical fibers

This now patented development had never been reported in the scientific literature.

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The 3B's Research Group of the University of Minho, in collaboration with the Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection from Stanford University (USA), created for the first time biological structures similar to optical fibers, using sugars from algae and bacteria. Its manufacture is fast and cheap, allowing, for example, to detect physical forces, detect covid-19 or generate 3D models of diseases such as cancer.

Work was the cover theme of the magazine Advanced materials, one of the best in the world in the area. The study has already been praised internationally in the portals Advanced Science News e nanowerk. The research was carried out by PhD student Carlos Guimarães, supervised by professors Rui L. Reis (UMinho) and Utkan Demirci (Stanford University).

The thesis is based on two review articles, five experimental articles and two patents, with emphasis on publications in high impact journals, namely Nature Reviews Materials, Advanced Materials, Materials Horizons, Cancer Letters, Applied Materials Today e Current Opinion in Biotechnology.

All the work was carried out within the scope of Rui L. Reis' European Research Council advanced grant for the ComplexiTE project. The manipulation and creation of structures based on hydrogels has been studied for several years in the 3B's Group of the I3Bs – UMinho Research Institute for Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, based at AvePark, in Guimarães.

A new class of fibers

Society knows fiber optics for being able to transmit information at high speed on the Internet. But this light signal propagated in a glass tube long and thinner than a hair also allows biological detection, such as guiding light in a sample and (de)activating brain cells with beams of light to treat disorders. However, glass is not generally biocompatible and is not biodegradable.

In this study, scientists created unique and original optical fibers based on hydrogels, composed mainly of water and that allow light to communicate within the body, integrating tissues, stimulating cells and detecting biological phenomena.

Scientists have developed and patented a new class of optical fibers based on natural sugars. These flexible hydrogel structures make it possible to detect mechanical deformations or the presence of biomolecules and viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, using light, but also to transport living entities such as human cells.

Furthermore, by exploring the interaction between optical signals and tumors, it is possible to digitize, for example, the growth of a mini-cancer inside the fiber, facilitating the testing of antitumor drugs in a quantitative and extremely fast way.

This technology is easily adaptable and can integrate specific patient cells to test therapies, which is an important advance in the context of regenerative and precision medicine.

The Portuguese-American team now wants to apply the innovation in the characterization of the microenvironment of each tumor, which is decisive in metastasis. It also intends to mimic this type of fibers in organs and tissues, such as the neuronal system, muscle fibers and the intestinal tract, among others.

 

Detect viruses and tumors

Unlike glass, which is extremely dense, the sugars that were used in this study (gellan gum and alginate, materials typically used by the 3B's group) form a less dense and permissible 3D network, for example, to several viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. , which are thus detected using nanoparticles that bind them and cause a change in the optical response, which can be easily attached to a medical swab. The structure of hydrogels, on the other hand, makes it possible to integrate living cells into these fibers, says Carlos Guimarães.

The researchers demonstrated, in the same central zone of the optical fiber, that it is possible to create fibers where cancer cells gradually progress until a mini-tumor emerges, which grows and responds to therapies just like a living cancer.

Using the interaction with light, the complex process of tumor growth was detected and quantified by the optical signal almost immediately, as if it were a question of opening a nova página web on the computer.

In other words, it is possible to monitor the growth of the cancer model using light and discover the ideal amount of a particular drug to inhibit its growth, explains scientist Rui L. Reis, director of UMinho's 3B's Group.

As light travels through the fiber, it changes characteristics, cell density, proliferation and the presence of biomarkers of interest, among other aspects. This light-cell interaction then helps to digitize complex biological events, such as the proliferation of tumor cells in a 3D environment and their susceptibility to drugs, converting them into numbers and data within seconds.

This now patented development had never been reported in the scientific literature. This type of structures can be manufactured quickly and simply. That is, the fibers can be produced with cells extracted from specific patients, generating an instrument for testing therapies and the rapid discovery of the best drug to use to treat each patient in a personalized way.

Bioengineering research increasingly relies on large datasets, so finding ways to digitize biological processes is urgent. The challenges also include creating universal and original tools that are capable of generating relevant information, while maintaining the necessary simplicity. This kind of unique platform will expand access to bioengineering and 3D models of living, healthy or diseased tissue, and their rapid analysis by scientists around the world.

 

 

 



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