Over the past four years, Maartje, Michael and Robyn have been working on an animal-free research model that mimics the junction between nerves and muscles. This new model makes it possible to study neuromuscular diseases that affect this junction using human cells. A win-win situation: the model offers an alternative to animal testing and can contribute to the development of new treatments for patients with neuromuscular diseases.
The point where nerves and muscles communicate
“If you want to use certain muscles, your nerves have to activate those muscles,” explains Maartje. As project leader, Maartje monitors the scientific aspects of the research project. ‘The place where nerves transmit that action signal to the muscles is often affected by disease. This causes the patient to have problems moving.’
Maartje supervises Robyn, who is doing her PhD on this research. “We know of about 600 different muscle diseases, several of which affect the junction between nerves and muscles,” says Robyn. ‘The best known is ALS, but there are many more. We have developed this model to enable better research into all these diseases, for which there are currently few treatments.’ Maartje: ‘We have spent the last four years working on the development of the model. The basic model is now ready. The next step is to simulate nerve-muscle diseases in the model.’
As big as a fingertip
The research model is a chip consisting of two chambers, one for muscle cells and one for nerve cells. A channel runs between the chambers. From this channel, the mini-nerve seeks contact with the mini-muscle bundles as it grows. These muscle bundles are tense, just like real muscles. Only much smaller: the entire model is about the size of a fingertip.
‘When you’re creating something new, you always have to consider where it will fit,’ says Michael, who was responsible for developing the chips. ‘The chip had to fit perfectly under a microscope, because that’s where researchers will ultimately look at what happens to the muscle and nerve cells. So we designed the chips to fit exactly into the compartments of microscope slides.’ ‘Each compartment fits one model,’ explains Robyn. ‘You then slide the plate a little bit at a time so that you can use the microscope to see what is happening in the individual models and whether you can see any differences.’
Just like an aquarium with fish
Michael compares the model itself to an aquarium with fish. ‘I make the aquarium,’ he says. ‘That way, I create an environment in which fish can grow and live.’ ‘And I make the fish,’ Robyn, his colleague, adds. She uses stem cells to grow the muscle and nerve cells that grow in the chip Michael has developed.
‘Stem cells are a type of basic cell that can develop into any cell type,’ explains Maartje. ‘We can control that. For example, we grow muscle and nerve cells from stem cells from healthy people and from stem cells from people with a specific condition. This allows us to mimic diseases in the chip and use a microscope to identify the differences. In this way, we can learn more about the conditions and test treatments.’
Laboratory animals have always been the second choice
The model is still in its infancy, but in time it could also be an alternative to research that is currently still being done with laboratory animals. Michael: ‘Animals have always been second choice. If you want to make people better, you want to test on humans. For a long time, that wasn’t possible, but now we have so many great techniques that allow us to test treatments on human cells.’
People affected by nasty diseases deserve the very best treatments,’ he continues. ‘For that, we need human-centred models.’
Collaboration with Proefdiervrij
‘The fact that Proefdiervrij wanted to support our project was very valuable,’ says Maartje. ‘They financed part of the research, but were also involved in the content.’ Maartje: ‘Foetal calf serum or other animal-derived substances are often used to grow cells. Proefdiervrij advised us on animal-free substances in which cells also grow well. We investigated their advice and now use an animal-free alternative.”
Proefdiervrij was an ideal partner for this project,‘ adds Michael. ’The name of the collaboration is NOACH, after the biblical character who took animals on board to save them from the flood. Our model can be a good alternative to laboratory animals. Not only in research into muscle diseases, but also, for example, for testing Botox. New batches must be tested repeatedly for safe use in humans. This is currently done as standard with laboratory animals, but our model may be able to take over this task in the future.
We are extremely pleased with Robyn, Michael and Maartje’s chip, which, just like Noah’s “real” boat, has the potential to save many animals. Laboratory animals, but also animals used for the extraction of research materials.
For example, foetal calf serum, a substance extracted from unborn calves of cows that are found to be pregnant in the slaughterhouse, is often used to grow cells. We believe that our ability to help this top team develop a good animal-free alternative is a wonderful example of what we can achieve when we join forces.
In order to continue supporting researchers in developing research models free from animal suffering, we could really use your support. Together, we can make the future free from animal testing.
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