The Massachusetts Institute of Technology technique has successfully healed airway injuries in rabbits by the placement of new tracheal cells around the injury site, the scientists said. Two types of such cells embedded within a three-dimensional gelatin scaffold can assume the functions of the damaged tissue.

Most current attempts at tissue regeneration seek to rebuild the complex architecture with structural precision. But the MIT researchers said they found it isn't necessary to recapture the ordered layering to heal injuries. Instead, they concentrated on restoring cellular health. When cells are intact and have regained their biological function, they need only reside near the injured tissue to enhance overall repair, said Professor Elazer Edelman, senior author of the study.

Patents on the technique have been licensed to Pervasis, a company co-founded by Edelman, which develops cell-based therapies that induce repair and regeneration in a wide array of tissues.

The research appears in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.