Design of adhesive nanomaterials for tissue repair

在全球范围内，每年进行3.1亿次大手术，而且这个数字还在继续增长。目前的外科缝合方法包括使用有创性技术，如缝合或缝合，这往往会导致继发性组织损伤和微生物感染。为了克服这些缺点，生物粘合剂已经成为一种有效的伤口密封解决方案，目前市场份额为380亿美元。纳米技术已经成为粘附性生物材料设计的一种新工具。最近的进展表明，二氧化硅纳米颗粒能够通过吸附蛋白质到生物组织表面形成粘附层，从而将生物组织粘合在一起。虽然这种方法提供了基本的概念证明，但到目前为止，纳米胶粒仅限于无机材料，其性质(形状、大小和功能)很难控制。相比之下，有机纳米颗粒可以很容易地实现更广泛的表面功能、形态和尺寸，因此有望通过调节和定制其粘合性能来实现组织粘合应用的重大进步。我的愿景是开发新的有机纳米材料，为调节组织粘合强度提供更丰富和更通用的平台，使该领域能够发生阶段性变化。这项研究将对纳米颗粒性能和粘合行为之间的结构-活性关系提供重要的基础性理解，并通过这样做将充分实现纳米结构作为组织粘合剂的潜力。

Globally, 310 million major surgeries are performed each year, with the number continuing to grow. Current surgical closure methods involve the use of invasive techniques such as sutures or staples, which often result in secondary tissue damage and microbial infection. To address these shortcomings, biological adhesives have emerged as an effective wound sealing solution, currently constituting a market share of $38 billion. Nanotechnology has emerged as a new tool for the design of adhesive biomaterials. Recent advances have shown that silica nanoparticles are able to glue biological tissue together by forming an adhesive layer through adsorption of proteins onto their surfaces. While this approach provides a fundamental proof of concept, nanoparticle glues are so far limited to inorganic materials, the properties (shape, size, and functionality) of which are difficult to control. In contrast, organic nanoparticles can be readily manipulated to achieve a wider range of surface functionality, morphologies, and dimensions, and hence are anticipated to enable major advances in tissue adhesive applications through the ability to tune and tailor their adhesive properties.My vision is to develop new organic nanomaterials that will provide a much richer and versatile platform for tuning the adhesive strength to tissues, enabling a step change in the field. This research will deliver important fundamental understanding of the structure-activity relationship between nanoparticle properties and adhesive behaviour and in doing so it will fully realise the potential of nanostructures as tissue adhesives.