Team:Exeter/Applications

The potential for new applications or improvements to current treatments across the medical world is vast.

Several polysaccharides currently show biocompatible and biodegradable properties, making them suitable for both external and internal functions [1]. Chitin and chitosan have already been studied for their effect on blood coagulation, tissue growth and wound healing [2]. They are now used in wound dressings to aid the natural healing process and chitin, because of its strength and flexibility and the fact it decomposes completely over time is used as surgical thread for stitches. We would suggest an improvement to dressing wounds would be to make an equivalent in the form of a gel, this could then be coated over an open/closed wound. A gel would offer the advantage of being able to use an open-window type dressing thus enabling the injury to be clearly visible and the healing process closely observed. Not only could a gel be used over a wound, it could also be used during extensive surgeries internally on tissue. This could potentially massively increase the rate of healing.

Hyaluronan is a polysaccharide that is present within joints and as a solution offers an interesting property. It is viscoelastic, at low strain frequencies it has viscous behaviour whilst at high strain frequencies it displays elastic tendencies [3]. These properties are what enable joints to survive on a daily basis with normal use and sudden impacts. We think that future prosthetics would benefit from research within this area and could possibly provide a replacement limb capable of rivalling, mechanically, the natural design. They may even progress to be able to withstand larger amounts of impact force making the possibilities of running faster for longer and jumping higher a possibility.

We have synthesized the gene hasA from Streptococcus pyogenes that codes for hyaluronan synthase. The enzyme hyaluronan synthase is responsible for generating hyaluronan from D-glucuronic acid and D-N-acetylglucosamine, linked via alternating β-1,4 and β-1,3 glycosidic bonds. The gene has been submitted to the registry as part BBa_K764022. †

Could we go further still? Blood types are distinguished by the presence of their surface polysaccharides [4]. Depending on which antigens are present some patients can only receive donations from their own blood group or other specific blood types according to their rarity. This drastically reduces the list of potential options.

In the future we envisage a system where donor blood could be “masked” to display the properties of its intended acceptors blood. This would be achieved by creating a polysaccharide that could bind to the surface of donor blood with one end and via the other display the same properties required for the recipient, thus passing as the host blood type. We believe this would lead to a new Universal Blood Donor Group with the potential of replacing conventional methods.