Identification and Optimisation of Atomic Scale Influences on Cell Response to Novel Bioactive Glass and Nanocomposite Tissue Scaffolds
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The aim of the proposed project is to develop new scaffold materials as osteogenic templates for bone regeneration that could play a key role in revolutionising healthcare in this area. The project is at the interface of Materials Science, Physics and Biology,. Novel nanoscale composites (calcium silicate/ polymer) will be developed that mimic the structure of bone both at the nanoscale, where bone is a nanoscale composite of collagen (polymer) and bone mineral (ceramic), and at the macroscale, where cancellous bone has a network of macropores. Through this project, the influence of changes in nano and atomic scale structure on bone cell response of these new materials and bioactive glass (calcium silicate) scaffolds will be investigated for the first time. The scaffolds will be optimised from the atomic to the macro scale for bone growth. The scaffolds will be based on bioactive sol-gel derived glasses that bond to bone and dissolve in the body, releasing ionic products that stimulate new bone growth. The nanocomposites are expected to do the same, although little is known about how the nanostructure of the either material affects cell response. This proposal seeks to rectify this by:1) Using cutting-edge characterisation techniques, such as NMR. synchrotron source X-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron diffraction (ND), to investigate how processing variables (e.g. final processing temperature and polymer content) affect the scaffold nanostructure and mechanical properties. Not only will well developed aspects of these techniques be employed, but new avenues will be explored to include 17O and 43Ca MAS NMR (the latter of which is little studied), in situ XRD to examine the structural developments of the amorphous structure in real time and precise isotope ND difference experiments,,2) Investigating the effect of nanoscale structural changes on degradation and bioactivity, and3) Quantifying how changing the nanostructure of the scaffolds affects in vitro bone growth. Mechanisms of bioactivity with respect to the amorphous calcium -silicate structure will be clarified.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Mark Smith (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Martin RA
(2012)
Structural characterization of titanium-doped Bioglass using isotopic substitution neutron diffraction.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Poologasundarampillai G
(2014)
Cotton-wool-like bioactive glasses for bone regeneration.
in Acta biomaterialia
Poologasundarampillai G
(2010)
Synthesis of bioactive class II poly(?-glutamic acid)/silica hybrids for bone regeneration
in Journal of Materials Chemistry
Poologasundarampillai G
(2014)
Poly(?-glutamic acid)/silica hybrids with calcium incorporated in the silica network by use of a calcium alkoxide precursor.
in Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)
Valliant E
(2012)
Role of pH and temperature on silica network formation and calcium incorporation into sol-gel derived bioactive glasses
in J. Mater. Chem.
Valliant EM
(2013)
Bioactivity in silica/poly(?-glutamic acid) sol-gel hybrids through calcium chelation.
in Acta biomaterialia