Objective
Controlled delivery of proteins is a highly promising strategy to treat pathological conditions, including myocardial infarcts, bone defects, and skin lesions, as well as inflammatory, metabolic and neurological disorders. A major roadblock to effective protein therapeutics is the lack of biocompatible and injectable carriers that deliver proteins with high bioactivity and suitable release profiles. The objective of this proposal is to engineer hydrogel microspheres with controlled size and protease-dependent degradation profiles via microfluidics for therapeutic protein delivery. The maleimide-functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-MAL) hydrogel system is a modular platform that incorporates protease-degradable or non-degradable cross-links, bioactive ligands, and therapeutic growth factors in a ‘plug-and-play’ fashion allowing significant material tunability. In addition, PEG elicits minimal inflammatory reactions and has an excellent safety record. Importantly, the release rate of encapsulated proteins is controlled by protease-dependent cleavage of the hydrogel cross-links, providing a specific and triggerable release mechanism. Because the maleimide cross-linking reaction occurs much more rapidly than other hydrogel cross-linking chemistries, novel microfluidic-based polymerization approaches to generate microspheres of controlled size will be applied. By designing particles with different hydrogel cross-links and encapsulated proteins, a robust and flexible protein delivery platform with tunable dosing and release profiles will be established. The overall objective will be accomplished via two specific aims: Engineer PEG-MAL hydrogel microspheres with tunable dosing and release profiles for BMP2 and VEGF, and evaluate in vivo delivery profiles and bone repair in a murine segmental defect model. This model will be also used in return phase to evaluate in vivo the role of the synergistic integrin and growth factor signaling in bone repair and vascularization.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences physical sciences classical mechanics fluid mechanics microfluidics
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aliphatic compounds
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IOF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
G12 8QQ Glasgow
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.