Formulation of osteogenic liposomes inspired by cell-derived vesicles

在过去的十年里，细胞外小泡(EVS)的领域迅速扩大，并不断发现这些纳米粒子在各种生物过程中所起的作用。在发育中的骨骼中，囊泡作为传递促成骨因子的载体，并启动基质矿化所需的早期成核事件。这个项目将寻求了解通过调节骨再生的囊泡转移的货物。然后，这些机制将被用来启发合成脂质体，并将其结合到生物材料中，以增强成骨作用。这项学习将包括提供以下将给予全面培训的任务：1.成骨细胞和干细胞的体外细胞培养，以产生细胞外小泡，然后使用超速离心法分离2。使用一系列不同的技术表征囊泡大小、货物和脂肪含量3。观察不同囊泡剂量对干细胞体外增殖和矿化的影响。配制含有关键囊泡蛋白的脂质体，并表征其物理化学性质以及干细胞矿化的影响5。将优化的脂质体整合到可注射水凝胶生物材料中，使其能够局部释放到骨缺损中

In the last decade, the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs) has rapidly expanded and is constantly unearthing new understanding of the role these nanoparticles play in various biological processes. Within developing bone, vesicles function as vehicles for the delivery of pro-osteogenic factors and initiate early nucleation events necessary for matrix mineralisation. This project will seek to understand the cargo transferred by vesicles that modulate bone regeneration. These mechanisms will then be used as inspiration to formulate synthetic liposomes that may be incorporated into biomaterials to enhance osteogenesis. This studentship will involve delivering the following tasks for which full training will be given:1. In-vitro cell culture of osteoblasts and stem cells to produce extracellular vesicles that may then be isolated using ultracentrifugation2. Characterisation of vesicle size, cargo and lipid content using a range of different techniques3. Observe the effects of different vesicle dosages on the proliferation and mineralisation of stem cells in-vitro4. Formulate liposomes containing key vesicle proteins and characterise their physicochemical properties as well as influence of stem cell mineralisation5. Incorporate optimised liposomes into injectable hydrogel biomaterials to enable localised delivery to bone defects