Identification and Optimisation of Atomic Scale Influences on Cell Response to Novel Bioactive Glass and Nanocomposite Tissue Scaffolds

拟议项目的目的是开发新的支架材料作为骨再生的成骨模板，这可能在该领域的医疗保健革命中发挥关键作用。该项目是在材料科学，物理学和生物学的接口。将开发新型纳米级复合材料（硅酸钙/聚合物），其在纳米级和宏观尺度上模拟骨的结构，在纳米级上，骨是胶原（聚合物）和骨矿物质（陶瓷）的纳米级复合材料，在宏观尺度上，松质骨具有大孔网络。通过该项目，将首次研究这些新材料和生物活性玻璃（硅酸钙）支架的纳米和原子尺度结构变化对骨细胞反应的影响。支架将从原子到宏观尺度进行优化，以促进骨生长。支架将基于生物活性溶胶-凝胶衍生的玻璃，其结合到骨并溶解在体内，释放刺激新骨生长的离子产物。纳米复合材料预计也会这样做，尽管人们对这两种材料的纳米结构如何影响细胞反应知之甚少。该提案试图通过以下方式纠正这一点：1）使用尖端的表征技术，如NMR。利用同步辐射源X射线衍射（XRD）和中子衍射（ND），研究加工变量（例如最终加工温度和聚合物含量）如何影响支架纳米结构和机械性能。不仅将采用这些技术的发达方面，而且将探索新的途径，包括17 O和43 Ca MAS NMR（后者研究较少），原位XRD以在真实的时间和精确的同位素ND差实验中检查无定形结构的结构发展，2）研究纳米级结构变化对降解和生物活性的影响，以及3）量化改变支架的纳米结构如何影响体外骨生长。生物活性机制方面的无定形硅酸钙结构将得到澄清。

The aim of the proposed project is to develop new scaffold materials as osteogenic templates for bone regeneration that could play a key role in revolutionising healthcare in this area. The project is at the interface of Materials Science, Physics and Biology,. Novel nanoscale composites (calcium silicate/ polymer) will be developed that mimic the structure of bone both at the nanoscale, where bone is a nanoscale composite of collagen (polymer) and bone mineral (ceramic), and at the macroscale, where cancellous bone has a network of macropores. Through this project, the influence of changes in nano and atomic scale structure on bone cell response of these new materials and bioactive glass (calcium silicate) scaffolds will be investigated for the first time. The scaffolds will be optimised from the atomic to the macro scale for bone growth. The scaffolds will be based on bioactive sol-gel derived glasses that bond to bone and dissolve in the body, releasing ionic products that stimulate new bone growth. The nanocomposites are expected to do the same, although little is known about how the nanostructure of the either material affects cell response. This proposal seeks to rectify this by:1) Using cutting-edge characterisation techniques, such as NMR. synchrotron source X-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron diffraction (ND), to investigate how processing variables (e.g. final processing temperature and polymer content) affect the scaffold nanostructure and mechanical properties. Not only will well developed aspects of these techniques be employed, but new avenues will be explored to include 17O and 43Ca MAS NMR (the latter of which is little studied), in situ XRD to examine the structural developments of the amorphous structure in real time and precise isotope ND difference experiments,,2) Investigating the effect of nanoscale structural changes on degradation and bioactivity, and3) Quantifying how changing the nanostructure of the scaffolds affects in vitro bone growth. Mechanisms of bioactivity with respect to the amorphous calcium -silicate structure will be clarified.