From the cobweb and silkworm threads have developed a material for the restoration of nerves

Researchers from Oxford and Vienna Medical Universities have developed a new type of nerve

conductor using two different types of natural silk. Tubes that are sewn to both ends of a damaged nerve can repair even large nerve tears.

Conductors made of natural or syntheticmaterials are an important surgical tool for nerve repair. These tubes direct the growth of nerve fibers and cells through the rupture, guiding recovery from injury. But the existing analogues "work" only on small gaps.

Researchers have developed a conductor of two typesnatural silk. The wall of the tube was made from silkworm (Bombyx mori) threads. The researchers filled the inner space with the material of spiders Trichonephila edulis from the family of nephilic orb weaving spiders, which create the largest cobwebs.

The neural tubes were tested on ratsin which the right sciatic nerve was severed leaving a gap of 10 mm (a significant length in a rat). The researchers found that the damaged nerves adapted to the new silk nerve conduits and grew along the silk filaments until the broken ends successfully reconnected.

Scanning electron microscopy of nervetubes made from two types of silk. In the bottom row, enlarged images of the external (left) and internal (right) structure. Image: Lorenz Semmler et al., Advanced Healthcare Materials

Researchers have used microscopy torecovery growth tracking. The analysis showed that both types of silk play an important role in this process. Hollow tubes, made of only one type of material, regenerated nerves more slowly, and growth was uncontrollable and multidirectional.

Silk tubes have a very porous structure.This is important for nerve regeneration as it allows cells to exchange nutrients and waste. In addition, Schwann cells, which are key factors in the regeneration of peripheral nerves, firmly attached both to the walls of the tube and to the silk fibers inside it and migrated at an astonishing rate (more than 1.1 mm per day).

Read more:

For the first time, a fish living at a depth of more than 8,300 m was filmed

Scientists have figured out the nature of strange radio signals from a planet similar to Earth

The study showed that tyrannosaurs were different from their "cine" appearance