Grow new skin with spider silk

Spider silk helps in the growth of skin cells

01.09.2011

Spider silk could help with the breeding of artificial skin in the future. As Hanna Wendt from the Department of Plastic Hand and Reconstructive Surgery of the Hannover Medical School (MHH) in the journal „PLoS ONE“ spider silk is particularly suitable for healing chronic wounds or burns, as the spider threads are extremely tear-resistant and stretchy and are also tolerated by the human body.

In the past, much has already been discussed about possible fields of application of the natural product spider silk and various areas have been discussed. For example, the extremely tear-resistant spider silk would be suitable for producing especially light bullet-proof vests or as a construction material. For some years, research has also been working on a medical use of spider silk, for example for the repair of nerve cells. Now, Hanna Wendt has shown in her doctoral thesis another possible uses of the natural product.

Spider silk with medical benefits
According to the MHH expert, spider silk could play an important role in artificial skin breeding in the future, significantly improving treatment options for chronic wounds or burns. According to Hanna Wendt is „Spider silk perfectly suited to the tasks of the skin“ and „can do more than other materials that have been studied so far for the production of artificial skin.“ In previous studies of the MHH, the spider silk was already used for the regeneration of nerves and as a suture during surgery, now succeeded in using the spider silk and skin cells to breed, said the scientist. One of the most difficult tasks was the extraction of the natural product.

Hanna Wendt used for her investigations the Golden Orb Spider (Nephila sp.) From Tanzania for the production of spider silk. The spiders were literally milked. The researcher attached the tether of the animals, whose production can not control them, to a stainless steel frame about one square centimeter in size and, with slow pulling, spun the spider thread onto the frame. The spider delivered up to 400 meters of thread in a fifteen-minute milking time, explained Hanna Wendt. By winding on the stainless steel frame, a close-meshed surface was created on which skin cells were then applied, reports the MHH researcher. With adequate supply of nutrients, heat and air, two superimposed tissue-like layers of skin were formed, which correspond in structure to the outer skin layer (epidermis) and the dermis immediately below. Here, the upper layer of so-called keratinocytes was formed, the lower of fibroblasts, said Hanna Wendt. Although the structure is promising, further research is needed to determine how well the newly bred skin grows, the expert continued.

However, as with all previously envisioned areas of use of spider silk, the problem of adequate availability of the natural product remains even when used for the cultivation of skin cells. Although the spiders can produce spider silk in mass relative to their body size, this is far from sufficient for the needs of the possible fields of application. Therefore, the spider silk would have to be produced as synthetically as possible for clinical use, which is not yet possible. So probably several years of research work will pass before the spider silk is used as standard in the treatment of patients. (Fp)

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Picture: Rita Thielen