Smart biomaterials from protein-based composite nanofibres:Cell interaction with 3D-nanofibrous biopolymer scaffolds – a focus on mechanics

天然蛋白质复合体的多层次层次结构解释了它们必须在活的有机体内履行的多种高度专业化的功能。由于合成的基于蛋白质的复合材料非常类似于包围所有活细胞的天然细胞外基质，它们具有内在的生物相容性，并提供可控的细胞反应。这些特征可用于开发下一代高性能合成生物材料，例如在组织工程或药物输送应用中。拟议项目的目标是由蛋白质基复合纳米纤维设计一类新的多功能生物材料。采用简单的纳米孔膜一步挤压方法，在不同层次的生理条件下制备纳米纤维蛋白复合材料。这种有效的方法将使我们能够创造出新型的蛋白质复合材料，在纳米纤维中含有不同的有机、无机和合成成分，比现有的生物材料更能模拟自然细胞环境的特性。在实现这一目标的道路上，我们将探索如何在纳米尺度上调整这种新型蛋白质复合材料的组成和尺寸。我们还将研究如何在微观水平上控制分级纤维组装和由此产生的复合材料功能。因此，一个重要的方面将是各种复合材料的生物功能，这将在分子和细胞水平上进行检测。此外，我们将探索如何扩大挤压工艺，以便于制备用于组织工程支架或药物载体的宏观生物材料。该项目的结果将有助于从蛋白质复合纳米纤维开发具有精确可控的多功能、生物活性和刺激响应性的新型智能生物材料。

The multi-level hierarchical structure of natural protein composites accounts for the manifold highly specialised functions they have to fulfil within a living organism. As synthetic protein-based composites strongly resemble the natural extracellular matrix, which surrounds all living cells, they are intrinsically biocompatible and offer well-controllable cell reactions. These features can be exploited in the development of the next generation of high performance synthetic biomaterials, for instance in tissue engineering or drug delivery applications.The objective of the proposed project is to design a new class of multifunctional biomaterials from protein-based composite nanofibres. Using a simple, one-step extrusion approach with nanoporous membranes, we will prepare nanofibrous protein composites under physiological conditions with different hierarchical levels. This efficient method will allow us to create novel types of protein composites with different organic, inorganic and synthetic components in the nanofibres, which can mimic the properties of the natural cellular environment more closely than existing biomaterials. On the way towards this aim we will explore how we can adjust the composition and dimension of such novel protein composites on the nanoscale. We will also study how the hierarchical fibre assembly and the resulting composite functions can be controlled on a microscopic level. Hereby, an important aspect will be the biological functionality of the various composites, which will be examined on a molecular and cellular level. Furthermore, we will explore how the extrusion process can be expanded to facilitate the preparation of macroscopic biomaterials for use as tissue engineering scaffolds or drug carriers.The results of this project will help to develop novel smart biomaterials from protein composite nanofibres with precisely controllable multifunctionality, biological activity and stimuli responsiveness.