MANCHESTER, England, Aug. 25 (Stephen Feller) — Researchers kept two sections of embryonic mouse intestine alive outside the body and instigated them to grow back together as a functioning section of organ.
The accomplishment could help scientists working to improve surgery and treatment for intestinal conditions in infants and adults, such as short bowel syndrome.
“In this study we managed to bridge a gap of less than 1 mm, but for this to be useful in conditions like short bowel syndrome we’ll need to promote growth across much larger distances,” said Adrian Woolf, a professor in the University of Manchester’s Institute of Human Development, in a press release. “Having the ability to test different vitamins and hormones which promote growth opens up many new possibilities for future treatments.”
The researchers developed an organ culture and system of “supports” on which organs can grow. To test this out, they removed the intestines of embryonic mice, cut them into 2 mm to 3 mm tubes, and placed pieces on the supports.
A thread was then inserted into the tubes to link them together. The researchers reported that after three days in the culture, 74 percent of the 36 pairs of intestinal pieces were not only touching, but nerve signals were passed between the pieces so that they were functioning as one single organ.
