The newly formulated gel known as MeTro is an elastic hydrogel based sealant, made with modified recombination protein methacroloyl substituted tropoelastin
In the past surgical sealants are something that have been used either with sutures and staples or on their own to seal ruptured tissues. Obviously you don’t expect them to work like your average glue, but it does exactly that. When there is a puncture in the lungs, for example, it can be put on the gap and allowed to heal over time.
In lung surgery prolonged air leaks can cause many problems and sealants help in limiting the duration of post operative leakages. Over the years many fibrin and collagen-based sealants have been tested but found inadequate. Some of the problems encountered with sealants are inappropriate mechanical strength, cytotoxicity, failure in biological environments.
There is however, a new revolutionary sealant developed that helps to over come these problems. It is biocompatible as it is re-engineered from the protein tropoelastin, a versatile molecule whose mechanical properties have let it be used in many biomaterials. On curing it with UV light it becomes stronger, due to photocrosslinking, than the adjoining tissue and forms a covering that promotes healing.
The newly formulated gel known as MeTro is an elastic hydrogel based sealant, made with modified recombination protein methacroloyl substituted tropoelastin. It was created by using nuclear magnetic resonance technology( NMR) that substituted various amounts of methacroloyl, which helps in polymerization, providing more tensile strength.
Previously it was known as to work in tissue regeneration heart, skin and blood vessel. Various standard tests have been performed with it and animals were successfully tested. All animals survived surgical procedures performed with this with normal blood circulation and respiration. According to the authors, they may even be ready for human trials.
