Nano Engineered Injectable Biomaterials for Osteoporotic Bone Treatment

Project Information

NanoBOOST

Grant agreement ID: 101031577

DOI

10.3030/101031577

Project closed

EC signature date 12 April 2021

Start date 1 January 2022

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 184 590,72

EU contribution

€ 184 590,72

Coordinated by

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NanoBOOST (Nano Engineered Injectable Biomaterials for Osteoporotic Bone Treatment)

Reporting period: 2022-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

My aim for this MSCA Individual Fellowship, is to tackle a devastating clinical orthopaedic challenge for which there is currently no reparative treatment. Specifically osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVFs), a serious complication of the most common metabolic bone disease associated with advancing age, by developing an advanced biomaterial technology to repair & restore structural integrity and function of disease damaged bone. My research goal is to develop a therapeutic injectable biomaterial technology that will for the first time, combine mechanically robust nano-silicates with antioxidant-ion substituted nano-particles, to target impaired bone remodelling and drive regeneration in a disease compromised load-bearing environment. My long term career goal is to establish and lead an independent research group that focuses on minimally invasive therapeutic biomaterial research, in a prestigious research performing organisation. The proposed multidisciplinary project will be carried out under the guidance of Dr. Ciara Murphy, an expert in bone regenerative biomaterials, and PI in the Tissue Engineering Research Group (TERG) at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), which is a leading partner in the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research Centre (AMBER) in Ireland. I joined Dr. Murphy’s group in TERG and AMBER in January 2020 as a Government of Ireland (GOI) Post-Doctoral Fellow, developing a novel injectable thermoresponsive scaffold for osteoporotic bone repair. As part of the training objective of this proposal, my proposed secondment to Prof. Aldo Boccaccini’s group in Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) will provide expertise in antioxidant mesoporous bioglass nano-particles. This prestigious fellowship will provide the unique opportunity to advance and develop my research ideas from my GOI project, to mature as an independent scientist and establish a research niche in regenerative biomaterial research and development. Further to the technical expertise I will acquire, I will gain complimentary skills in project management, dissemination, leadership and networking, equipping me with the skills needed as a young ambitious postdoctoral fellow to embark on an independent research career.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

I followed the Personal Career Development Plan established at the beginning of the project. My PCDP was reviewed and updated with my supervisor every 6 months. I benefited greatly from RCSI’s state-of-the art equipment and the atmosphere of researchers from the Tissue Engineering Research Group with a strong background in tissue regeneration and regenerative medicine. I received training in new techniques and instruments. I become an expert in producing high-quality, clinically relevant hydrogels for bone regeneration. I learnt techniques related to cell culture and 3D cell culture (i.e. fluorescent labelling of nucleic acids, histology staining). I extended my knowledge in microbiology and bacterial infections, evaluating nanoparticles (FAU) and hydrogels (TERG). I gained experience designing and conducting small-animal studies and training in research ethics and animal welfare. I attended internal RCSI and AMBER inductions to receive specific training on new equipment, e.g. TEM, ESEM, EDX, Nanosight, Zeta-sizer or other equipment required in histology. I developed my leadership skills by supervising students. 1.2.4 Work package 7: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation (M1-24): I participated in public outreach activities to ensure that my research activities were made known to the
general society. I delivered several online lectures which aimed to inform the broad public about the applications of biomaterials. I was active on my social platforms (Twitter and LinkedIn), where I regularly informed the public about research activities in the Tissue Engineering Research Group at the RCSI. I disseminated the outcomes of the project to the specialised public through participating in international conferences detail provided in Impact section below;
1.2.5 Secondment: Secondment for NanoBOOT was at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität with Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini, Germany. We discussed progress of our experiment over Zoom meeting multiple times and finalized our work package for secondment. Due to interest of time and training, Prof. Boccaccini liaised his Ph.D. student Xu, Zhiyan with me to prepare Praseodymium doped Bioglass nanoparticles and send over to me here in RCSI. I further functionalized Collagen/Chitosan hydrogels with bioglass nanoparticles here in TERG, RCSI and studied their structural and antioxidant properties and results are provided in the report. Two manuscripts are under preparation and will be submitted soon in RSC Journal of Materials Chemistry and Biomaterials Journals. I didn’t go to Germany but we finished our required experiment and sample preparation from NanoBOOST with the support of Ph.D. student Xu, Zhiyan.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Impact
The project NanoBOOST aimed to address the clinical problem of osteoporosis, by developing an injectable hydrogel to target disease impaired bone remodelling and promote bone regeneration. The hydrogels combined for the first time mechanically robust nano-silicates with antioxidant-ion substituted nano-particles, to target impaired bone remodelling and drive regeneration in a disease compromised load-bearing environment. Overall, the project generated scientific, economic and societal impacts. To ensure proper dissemination of research and findings, I designed a plan that maximizes the reach of the general public and scientific communities. The results derived from the project were extensively communicated to the research community by a presentation during international conferences. This includes:
Publications
1. Kaur ,K et al., Biomimetic Inspired Hydrogels for Regenerative Vertebral Body Stenting, Current Osteoporosis Reports, 21,806,2023.
2. Kaur ,K et al., Advances in the development of nano-engineered mechanically robust hydrogels for minimally invasive treatment of bone defects, Gels, 9,809,2023
Conferences
1. Kaur ,K et al., Tiny materials with huge potential: nanoparticle reinforced hydrogels for bone regeneration, BINI 2023, Dublin (Oral).
2. Kaur ,K et al., Thermoresponsive single wall carbon nanotubes reinforced collagen/chitosan hydrogels compatible for bone tissue engineering, BINI,2022 (Oral).
3. Kaur ,K et al., Injectable Chitosan/Collagen Hydrogels Nano-Engineered With Functionalized Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes For Minimally Invasive Applications in Bone, 2021 CRS Annual Meeting, 2022 (Canada) (Oral).
4. Kaur ,K et al., Nanoengineered Mechanically Robust Bioactive Particles Disseminated in Chitosan/Collagen Matrix for Osteoporotic Bone Treatment, TERMIS EU 2022,Krakow (Oral).
EU funding has been acknowledged in all the conference and 1st author presentations.@MSCActions was acknowledged in all the communications.

3D hydrogels