Scientists develop world-first 3D cell model to boost treatments for lip injury

In a worldfirst Swiss scientists have developed 3D cell models using lip cells an advance that can help develop new treatments for injuries and infectionsTo date models using lip cells which perform differently from other skin cells have not been availableldquoThe lip is a very prominent feature of our facerdquo said Dr Martin Degen of the University of Bern in SwitzerlandldquoAny defects in this tissue can be highly disfiguring But until now human lip cell models for developing treatments were lackingrdquo Degen addedTo fill the gap the scientists successfully immortalised donated lip cells This enabled them to develop clinically relevant lip models in the labThe team selected skin cells from tissue donated by two patients one undergoing treatment for a lip laceration and one undergoing treatment for a cleft lipUsing a retroviral vector the team deactivated a gene that stops a cellrsquos life cycle They also altered the length of the telomeres on the ends of each chromosome to improve the cellsrsquo longevityThe new cell lines were then tested rigorously to retain the same characteristics as primary cells and looked for any chromosomal abnormalities revealed the scientists in the paper published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental BiologyFinally they carried out tests to see how the cells might perform as future experimental models for lip healing or infectionsThey scratched samples of the cells to see if the cells could act as accurate proxies for wound healingWhile untreated cells closed the wound in eight hours those treated with growth factors closed the wound more quickly These results matched those seen in skin cells from other body partsAfter developing 3D models using the cells the scientists infected them with Candida albicans a yeast that can cause serious infections in people with weak immune systems or cleft lipsThe cells performed as expected and the pathogen rapidly invaded the model as it would infect real lip tissueldquoWe are convinced that 3D models established from healthy immortalised lip cells have the potential to be very useful in many other fields of medicinerdquo said Degen noting that the proofofconcept once expanded could benefit thousands of patientsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever