pH-Responsive hollow particle gels for cartilage regeneration

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the gradual degeneration of cartilage covering the bony ends of joints. It is a debilitating disease which develops in 33% of adults in the mid 40s and affects 15% of the worlds population. The cost of OA treatment for the UK National Health Service (NHS) was £850M in 2007 (5% of the NHS budget) and is increasing. There is an urgent need for an injectable fluid that transforms into a gel in the body that provides both immediate load support to damaged cartilage and results in regeneration of cartilage tissue. Hollow polymer particles have potential to enable regeneration of cartilage tissue. In our proof-of-concept study we established a new injectable fluid containing pH-responsive biodegradable hollow polymer particles that change from a fluid to a gel at physiological conditions. In this proposal we aim to establish methods for linking the hollow particles together to prepare injectable gels that are both mechanically stable and are able to be disassembled on demand using molecules that naturally occur in the body. These are essential steps which, if successful, will result in design rules for preparing injectable, high strength, hollow particle gels that could enable a new OA therapy. This ambitious proposal greatly extends our earlier study and will be conducted by a postdoctoral research associate over a period of 30 months.