Doctors use collagen-based biomaterials to treat many conditions, such as helping to heal wounds faster or for tissue regeneration. And it’s critical that the collagen doesn’t trigger immune rejection. Recently, researchers have been exploring the possibility of replacing bovine collagen (used commonly now) with echinoderm collagen for tissue regeneration. Echinoderm collagen is special because it’s pliable and can change from being stiff to flexible.
Echinoderms (brittle stars, sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins, to name a few) can quickly and drastically transform their bodies using their collagen, called catch collagen. This substance is one of a group of tissues that scientists call mutable collagenous tissue (MCTs.) In the body of a sea star, for example, the collagen can soften to allow the animal to move easily over uneven surfaces, then “stiffen to lock the animal into place in an infinite number of what look like the most awkward poses that would be the envy of any acrobat”, as Rich Mooi of California Academy of Sciences says.
Researchers are trying to understand how these echinoderm MCTs work with the goal of creating new biomaterials for medical use. Watch this.
