Towards a New Bone Scaffold Material - Exploring Silicon Nanowires as a Biomimetic Environment for Osteoblastic Differentiation

该项目的目标是开发类似硅纳米线组织的绒毛，作为骨组织工程的新型支架材料。这种材料保证了仿生结构的协同效应和硅酸盐的化学释放，作为增强骨骼构建的一个因素。该项目将包括材料合成、材料的脱细胞表征和间充质干细胞（MSC）模型的体外表征，以优化材料并最大限度地发挥其诱导成骨分化和翻译候选资格的潜力。通过使用硅纳米线，不仅可以诱导结构和化学的协同效应，而且还可以在不改变体积或表面化学的情况下独立控制单个纤维结构的直径、长度和分支。此外，没有支撑基板的硅纳米线羊毛，代表了一种新型材料，将被制造出来，为细胞提供一个分层的三维环境，目的是在结构上模仿骨基质。硅纳米线羊毛与锶掺杂磷酸钙的矿化将提供一种复合材料，该材料融合了成功诱导骨的几个因素：硅酸盐、钙、磷酸盐和锶离子释放与仿生结构相结合。存在几种材料合成策略，主办机构提供了大量开创性的方法，专门用于获取纳米材料的信息并分析细胞对所得材料的反应。

The goal of the proposed project is the development of silicon nanowire tissue-like fleeces as a novel scaffold material for bone tissue engineering. The material promises the synergistic effect of a biomimetic structure and the chemical release of silicate as a factor for enhancing bone build-up. The project will comprise material synthesis, acellular characterisation of the material and in vitro characterisation in a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) model to optimise the material and maximise its potential to induce osteogenic differentiation and candidacy for translation.By using silicon nanowire fleeces not only a synergistic effect of structure and chemistry might be induced but it also offers the unique possibility to independently control diameter, length and branching of the individual fibrous structures without changing bulk or surface chemistry. Additionally, silicon nanowire fleeces without a support substrate, representing a new class of material, will be fabricated to offer a hierarchical 3-dimensional environment for cells with the aim to mimic bone matrix structurally.Mineralisation of the silicon nanowire fleeces with strontium-doped calcium phosphate will provide a composite material that merges several factors for successful osseoinduction: silicate, calcium, phosphate and strontium ion release combined with a biomimetic structure. Several strategies for material synthesis exist and the host institution offers a wealth of ground-breaking methods specially tailored to gain information on nanomaterials and analyse the cellular reaction to the resulting material.