Project description
Spinal cord injury repair
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe condition that results from damage to the spinal cord caused by trauma, disease, or degeneration. SCI is associated with a wide range of physical impairments, such as paralysis and loss of sensation. Currently, there is no cure for SCI, with available treatments focusing on managing symptoms and preventing further injury. Funded by the European Innovation Council, the Piezo4Spine project aims to develop a 3D bioprinted mesh that contains nanocarriers with therapeutic agents. The idea is to facilitate neural repair and promote functional recovery by targeting multiple cells in the spinal cord. The generated technology will be wirelessly powered and offer the option to control the time and dosage of therapeutics.
Objective
Piezo4Spine aims to develop a novel multifactorial therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI) conceived as a disruptive platform enabling unprecedented multiscale actuation to drive functional neural repair by more accurately tackling SCI complexity. It originally relies on the pivotal role that mechanotransduction plays in the physiology and physiopathology of tissue and organ functions, never explored before for SCI. We will develop a 3D bioprinted mesh containing nanocarriers with therapeutic agents acting at two pivotal aspects of neural repair: mechanotransduction and inhibitory scarring using gene therapy strategies. Bioactive nanocarriers will base on cutting-edge nanoparticles whose release will be electrically triggered on-demand via wireless powering. Such 3D-theramesh offers a novel and exceptionally robust biomaterial for delivering agents at the lesion, controlling time and dose. Current advances on SCI therapies focus on rehabilitation, cell transplantation, drugs, biomaterials, and/or electrical stimulation. Although leading to partial sensory/motor recovery, chronic functional deficits limit daily living activities and shorten live expectancy in SCI patients, as they fail to promote successful axon regeneration at the lesion and awake lost functions. By a multidisciplinary consortium combining scientific, technological, clinical and industrial partners enriched by their interdisciplinarity, we envision to overcome limitations of current technologies by tackling multiple cellular targets involved in neural regeneration after SCI with a balanced combination of therapeutic interventions able to optimally promote functional recovery. These radical science-to-technology breakthroughs could enable, if successful, novel technologies and therapies for SCI and many other neural and non-neural pathologies in which some, but not necessarily all, of these targets are involved. Gender dimension will be implemented by ensuring that findings apply to society as a whole.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinator
28006 Madrid
Spain