Patterned biomaterial degradation to guide multicellular response, extracellular matrix deposition and in-vivo tissue formation.

• Applicant: Amaia Cipitria, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Biomaterials
• Term: from 2012 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221407800

In the past decade there have been groundbreaking discoveries in the understanding of the influence of physical properties of biomaterials, such as the substrate stiffness or geometry, on cellular processes and tissue formation in vitro. Little is known, however, about how these findings translate to an in vivo scenario. The aim of this project is to gain improved understanding about the potential and limitations of the effect of the scaffold architecture on in vivo tissue regeneration. It is hypothesized that in vivo bone regeneration can be improved just by modifying the scaffold architecture. The healing outcome of an ovine, tibial, 30 mm critical-sized defect, where a scaffold with a well-defined geometry was implanted, is used as a model system. A tool will be developed to characterize the macroscopic 3D distribution of mineralized tissue formed in vivo, in relation to the scaffold surface curvature and to the axial and radial location within the defect. Following this, a microscopic description of the fibrous and mineralized tissue morphology in relation to the scaffold surface curvature, within selected scaffold unit volumes, will be performed using histology, Raman spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. The outcome of this project will be a deeper understanding on how in vivo tissue regeneration is influenced by the scaffold architecture. Such understanding is essential for future scaffold design.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Peter Fratzl; Professor David Mooney, Ph.D.