Improving Biomaterials from a Cellular Point of View

描述（由申请人提供）：在本提案中，我们将研究一种潜在的骨愈合新方法。众所周知，种植体材料多年来一直用于支持组织修复或再生。现在认为，这种植入物也可能通过活组织和细胞诱导自然骨愈合反应。具体来说，生物活性玻璃已经显示出通过释放生物活性玻璃离子来诱导成骨细胞对骨愈合的反应的能力。本研究的目的是探索生物活性玻璃离子在骨愈合和骨再生中发挥积极作用的新观点。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this proposal, we will investigate a potential new way of bone healing. It is widely known that implant materials have been used for many years to support tissue repair or regeneration. It is now thought that such implants may also induce natural bone healing responses by living tissues and cells. Specifically, bioactive glasses have shown this ability to induce osteoblast response for bone healing by releasing bioactive glass ions. The purpose of this proposed work is to explore this novel idea that bioactive glass ions play an active role in bone healing and bone regeneration. To investigate the influence of these ions on bone healing, we will examine how these glasses interact with cells from an intracellular and extracellular perspective. First, it is believed that bioactive glass ions, which are release by glasses during immersion in physiological fluid, may induce various responses by osteoblasts. Second, these bioactive glass ions (namely silicon and calcium) may combinatorially control osteoblast function such that bone regeneration is hastened or enhanced. Finally, we investigate how bioactive glasses ion release can be controlled using a programmed bioactive glass. The techniques used to determine the influence of bioactive glass ions on gene expression and extracellular activity includes gene microarrays, real time polymer chain reaction, immunoassays, and immunohistochemistry. To program bioactive glasses, chemical vapor deposition is used to build nanolayered and microlayered composite glasses that deliver target ion concentrations to cells for enhanced osteoblast function. The aims and goals of this proposed work fit into the mission of NIH, that is, improving biomaterials by improving our understanding of cell-biomaterial interactions and exploring new methods in fabricating "smart" biomaterials. The work proposed here investigates biomedical device-cell interactions for bone healing. Specifically, we wish to control and improve bone healing through controlled biomaterial degradation in physiological fluid. The proposed work is aimed at developing materials that are self-regulating for gene-related therapies. Therefore, improving our understanding of tissue-biomedical device interactions can lead to devices that improve tissue healing and ease patient suffering owed to debilitating conditions and diseased.