Objective
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis of the joints, affecting over 70 million EU citizens. At present, no cure for OA is available; only symptomatic therapies may help to ameliorate this painful disorder. OA affects the integrity of the cartilage and progresses to an increased damage in its surrounding tissues, inclusive bone, and to inflammation of the synovial tissue. The latter reaction is caused by an accumulation of bone splinters. The therapy of choice would be – if available – bidirectional: first, regeneration of the damaged cartilage (by implants) and second, dissolution of the bone fragments (by injections). This proposal presents for the first time this two-fold solution.
Within my ERC Advanced Grant “BIOSILICA” (No. 268476) we disclosed that biosilica elicits morphogenetic activity in cells involved in connective tissue formation. The effect of silica is augmented by another natural inorganic polymer, by polyphosphate (polyP), which is synthesized in most animal cells, especially blood platelets that accumulate in damaged bone and cartilage. polyP acts as “metabolic fuel” for the synthesis of the extracellular inorganic and organic skeletal and cartilage tissues. Our strategy is to combine and to amplify the beneficial properties of these two polymers, biosilica and polyP, their morphogenetic activity with their structure-forming/guiding activity, by applying hybrid microparticles, consisting of silica and polyP. The proposed project will provide the proof-of-concept of this dual strategy, using silica and the amorphous Mg2+/Ca2+ salt of polyP together with hyaluronic acid, to dissolve firstly existing bone splinters in the synovial fluid (by injection), reducing the painful joint burden in osteoarthritis, and secondly to repair damaged cartilage with polyP/silica implants.
This innovative material, injectable and implantable, will be developed to commercializable products for the benefit of the aging society.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine rheumatology
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology implants
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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.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
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.
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant
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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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2017-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
55131 Mainz
Germany
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.