How spider silk could be key to repairing damaged nerves in humans
In a surprising breakthrough, scientists have discovered that a combination of spider and silkworm silk may be the key to repairing devastating nerve injuries.
Professor Alex Woods, who is at the forefront of this discovery, said: newrotexA clinical-stage biotechnology start-up from the University of Oxford.
To talk Independentexplained the complex science behind it all: “Nerves are basically like a telephone cord, a tube made up of many tiny wires that carry information between your brain, muscles, and skin.
“If you suffer serious nerve damage, from being in an accident to cutting an avocado, the connection between your nerves is broken.
“This can cause chronic pain, numbness, and even paralysis.”
Although many people believe nerve damage is a rare event, data show 1 in 10 people in the UK will experience some degree of nerve damage in their lifetime.
“The gold standard treatment we currently have for nerve damage is a procedure called autograft, where the surgeon takes a healthy nerve from another part of the patient’s body to patch the injury site.
“But the problem here is that we are not actually creating a cure because we have to remove a nerve from one area of the body to heal the initial injury, we are simply replacing nerve damage in one area with damage in another area,” Professor Woods said.
Autograft surgery for the NHS, where around 300,000 peripheral nerve injuries are treated annually less than 50 percent recovery rate and carries a 27 percent complication rate.
As a result, the “off-the-shelf” silk alternative can be transformative.
By eliminating the need for a second surgical site to harvest donor nerves, the technology shortens operating times, reduces the risk of infection, and can significantly reduce long-term costs associated with rehabilitation and chronic pain management.
innovative solution newrotex He suggested using silk fibers from golden orb-web spiders to provide what Professor Woods described as “a cage-like structure that bridges damaged nerves”.
In preliminary tests on rats, nerve cells attached to spider silk and migrated at a remarkable rate of over 1.1 mm per day.
Most importantly, the silk stays in place for several months; This period is long enough to support nerve regeneration in gaps up to 10 cm, which human nerves cannot do on their own.
“The spider’s silk is extremely biocompatible, meaning that two years after surgery there is no trace of silk left in the patient’s system.
“This greatly reduces the likelihood of the body reacting negatively to surgery, which is not guaranteed with other surgical options,” Woods said.
However, the process of obtaining the material is as sensitive as the surgery itself.
Golden orb web spiders are native to southern and eastern Africa, and the arthropods in Newrotex come from Madagascar.
To collect the silk, golden orb-web spiders are gently anesthetized with carbon dioxide. The silk glands are then stimulated with a small brush, and the “dragline” fibers, which spiders traditionally use to descend from heights, are wound onto special bobbins using high-precision drive systems. This allows the silk, which is thinner than a human hair but stronger than steel by weight, to maintain its structural integrity.
Woods emphasized: “Peripheral nerve injuries have devastating effects on patients.
“A wide range of people suffer from nerve damage, from athletes to men with prostate cancer and women who have had mastectomies.
“The study conducted at Newrotex addresses a major unmet clinical need and creates a real solution for those suffering from the effects of nerve damage.”
If future trials in the UK and America are successful, the humble spider web could soon become the gold standard for helping people walk, move and feel again. Target dates for wider commercial use are currently set for 2027
