• Scientists from IIT Guwahati have synthesised mats made of silk-proteins and bioactive glass fibres that they believe can assist the growth of bone cells and repair worn-out joints in arthritis patients.

• The disease most commonly affects joints in the knees, hips, hands, feet, and spine and is marked by the breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bones.

• Left untreated, it can cause severe pain, swelling, and eventually limited range of movement.

• Current clinical treatment methods are limited by lack of viable tissue substitutes to aid the repair process

• To develop a suitable tissue substitute, scientists looked into the natural bone-cartilage interface and tried to mimic it synthetically in lab conditions.

• Knee osteoarthritis is the most common bone and joint disease in India. The available clinical grafts were expensive.

• The scientists used silk, a natural protein to fabricate electro-spun mats to mimic the cartilage portion and bioactive glass to develop a composite material, similar to the natural tissue.

• For the mat, scientists used a kind of silk easily available in northeast India.

• Muga [Assam] silk is endowed with properties that enhance the healing process.

• The researchers adopted a green fabrication approach for the developing the silk composite mats – electrospinning. 

• It is similar to knitting, except that it utilises electric high-voltage force to draw ultrafine fibres. 

• A layer by layer approach was followed, where the bone layer was first formed, on top of which the cartilage layer was developed. 

• The resulting composite mat resembled the architecture of the bone-cartilage interface.

• To assist the regenerative process, the mats would be grafted in the defected joint with cells harvested from the patient.

Source:TH