A Strong Bond

A wound to the skin can swiftly be patched up with stitches, but repairing damage to our internal organs is much more complicated. Holding tissues together with sutures is a delicate procedure, especially for organs whose functions require them to be flexible. Surgical glues are a promising alternative, and one recently-developed sealant, dubbed MeTro gel, could change the way we deal with internal wounds. Based on an elastic protein found in the human body, known as tropoelastin, MeTro gel is non-toxic, and was especially designed for organs that need to expand and contract, such as the heart, lungs and blood vessels. In the tissue section pictured, MeTro gel (in orange) tightly binds to the surface of an injured lung (below). Tests with live animals demonstrated that this glue can effectively and safely seal punctures in the arteries and lungs of rats and pigs, raising hopes for successful applications in humans.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University
• Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Science Translational Medicine, October 2017