Fine tune of cellular behavior: multifunctional materials for medical implants

Project Information

Bio-TUNE

Grant agreement ID: 872869

DOI

10.3030/872869

Project closed

EC signature date 27 November 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 December 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 814 200,00

EU contribution

€ 814 200,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Bio-TUNE (Fine tune of cellular behavior: multifunctional materials for medical implants)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Making Better, Safer Medical Implants

In the world of medical implants—like artificial joints, dental implants, or bone screws—one of the biggest goals is helping these devices connect and work well with the body’s tissues. But there’s a catch. The same surfaces that help the body’s cells stick and grow can also make it easy for harmful bacteria to attach. When bacteria grow on implants, they can form something called a biofilm—a sticky layer that’s very hard to get rid of. This can lead to serious infections, which may cause pain, complications, or even the need to remove the implant. It’s a growing concern in healthcare. On the other hand, if we design implants that stop bacteria from sticking, they might also harm the body’s own healing cells. So, the ideal solution would be to design implant materials that fight off bacteria without interfering with the body’s natural healing and cell functions. Unfortunately, most current methods only focus on either helping the body’s cells or stopping infections—not both at the same time.

What Did Bio-TUNE Do? It worked on a smart solution: special multifunctional coatings for implants that help the body’s cells grow and prevent bacteria from sticking. This was a new way of thinking in the field—addressing a need that hadn’t been fully solved before.

Bio-TUNE’s Main Goals:
1. Understand how body cells and bacteria interact
We studied how both helpful body cells and harmful bacteria behave when they touch an implant, right down to the molecular level.

2. Create smart implant surfaces
We used chemistry and tiny surface textures to build coatings that tell body cells to grow while making it hard for bacteria to survive.

3. Get these materials ready for real-world use
We looked at what’s needed for these coatings to meet medical rules and be used in actual hospitals and clinics.

With that knowledge, we built new high-tech materials that can do multiple things at once. We also worked directly with companies and developers to bring these materials from the lab into the real world.
The result? Next-generation implant materials that are inspired by nature and designed to help the body heal—while fighting off infections.

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

During the second part of the project (M37-M60), Bio-TUNE made some exciting progress in creating smarter, safer materials for medical implants. Here’s a simple breakdown of the key results:

WP1: Real-Time Sensors to Study Cells and Bacteria. We created tiny electronic sensors with special surfaces that can watch how body cells and bacteria stick to materials in real-time. These tools help scientists better understand what makes cells or bacteria "like" certain surfaces—and how to design better implants.

WP2: Smart Materials to Guide Stem Cells. We developed materials that can guide how stem cells grow and change—for example, helping them turn into bone cells. These included: i) Materials with nano-sized patterns that affect cell behavior; ii) Special coatings that "talk" to cells using signals they recognize; and iii) 3D bone-like structures made from ceramic materials that support bone growth.

WP3: Fighting Infection Without Resistance. We found friendly bacteria that can stop harmful ones like Staphylococcus aureus (a common cause of implant infections) and also discovered tiny molecules (aptamers) that block important steps in bacterial growth. These were added to titanium implants to create surfaces that prevent infections—without causing bacteria to become resistant, like antibiotics sometimes do.

WP4: Coatings That Help Cells and Fight Bacteria. We made new coatings from peptides (short proteins) that help body cells attach and grow, support bone healing, and fight off bacteria. These coatings worked well on different types of materials—both in lab tests and in living systems.

WP5: Understanding the Body’s Immune Response. We studied how immune cells (macrophages) react to different patterned surfaces. We learned that different types of macrophages behave in unique ways—some help fight infection, while others support healing. We also created natural coatings and gels with antibacterial effects, which could be useful for future implants.

Dissemination:

- We have published over a dozen papers in peer-reviewed journals, mostly Gold Open Access, ensuring wide visibility and accessibility of the results. We have also contributed with nearly 40 presentations at international conferences, helping spread the project’s findings globally.

- Project Events: A total of 13 key events took place, including the Bio-TUNE Summer School (111 students from 27 countries participated in workshops, a symposium, and facility visits) and the Bio-TUNE Final Meeting (24 project members and 6 invited speakers attended, with a 2-day scientific conference and workshop on communication and outreach).

- The Bio-TUNE website has been regularly updated with results, publications, and news, acting as a central hub for both peers and the public. 5 newsletters were published, providing updates on secondments, publications, and project events. Bio-TUNE’s official Twitter account (now X) gained nearly 300 followers, and consortium members also shared project updates on Instagram. Press releases were featured in prominent media outlets in Spain, Italy, and Argentina, including major news websites and radio channels. Bio-TUNE actively engaged the general public, including organizing events and lectures to educate on the project’s societal impact.

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)

Bio-TUNE has made progress beyond the state of the art by creating:

1. Smart Sensors that can give real-time, detailed information about how well an implant is integrating with the body or if it's getting infected.
2. Bone-Growth Surfaces that help bones grow better without needing extra growth factors (chemical signals) usually used in the process.
3. New Anti-Bacterial Treatments that can replace traditional antibiotics and specifically target bacteria that are hard to treat because they’ve become resistant to common drugs.
4. Special Peptides (tiny protein pieces) that have both bone-growing and bacteria-fighting abilities, making them more powerful for healing and preventing infection at the same time.
5. Patterned Surfaces that can control how the body’s immune system reacts, helping reduce infections and improving the implant’s success.

Why This Matters for Society? Every year, millions of people around the world receive medical implants—like hip replacements, dental implants, or bone screws. These devices can greatly improve quality of life by restoring movement, relieving pain, or fixing injuries. But when implants don’t work well with the body or get infected, it can lead to serious problems, which include painful infections, repeat surgeries, long hospital stays, increased healthcare costs and reduced quality of life. In some cases, infections caused by implants can even be life-threatening.

By creating materials that both help the body heal and prevent infections, Bio-TUNE’s work will help:
- Patients recover faster and more safely
- Reduce the need for repeat surgeries or long-term antibiotics
- Lower healthcare costs for families and health systems
- Improve the success of advanced medical treatments, especially as populations age

In summary, this kind of innovation helps building a healthier future, where medical implants are more reliable, more effective, and safer for everyone.

Graphical abstract