In a world-first, Swiss scientists have developed 3D cell models using lip cells, an advance that could help develop new treatments for injuries and infections.
To date, models using lip cells — which perform differently from other skin cells — are not available.
Dr. Martin Dagen of the University of Bern in Switzerland said, “The bust is a very prominent feature of our face.
“Any defect in this tissue can be very disruptive. But until now, human lip cell models for developing treatments have been lacking,” Degen added.
To fill this gap, scientists successfully immortalized donated lip cells. This enabled them to develop a clinically relevant lip model in the lab,
The team selected skin cells from tissue donated by two patients: one undergoing treatment for cleft lip, and one undergoing treatment for a cleft lip.
Using a retroviral vector, the team disabled a gene that stops a cell’s life cycle. They also changed the length of the telomeres at the ends of each chromosome to improve cell longevity.
The new cell lines were then rigorously tested to retain the same characteristics as the primary cells; and looked for any chromosomal abnormalities, the scientists revealed in a paper published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.