Descrizione del progetto
Ottimizzazione meccanobiologica del trattamento rigenerativo della cartilagine
L’artrosi colpisce l’integrità meccanica del tessuto, diminuendone la capacità di ammortizzare i colpi e ridurre al minimo i picchi di carico sulle ossa sottostanti. I metodi di ingegneria tissutale propongono una soluzione all’artrosi attraverso l’impianto di strutture di idrogel/scaffold arricchite con cellule di condrociti nella cartilagine degenerativa. L’ambiente meccanico della struttura inseminata con cellule svolge un ruolo determinante nella qualità e nella quantità della matrice extracellulare rigenerata. Il progetto CREATION, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di ripristinare l’assorbimento di energia della cartilagine degenerativa attraverso l’ottimizzazione della rigenerazione in impianti di strutture arricchite con cellule. L’obiettivo consiste nello sviluppare una struttura in silico per la modellazione meccanobiologica del composto cartilagine-impianto durante il carico. Il modello verrà poi utilizzato per ridurre al minimo le differenze tra l’assorbimento di energia degli impianti di costruzione e la cartilagine umana nativa.
Obiettivo
Knee cartilage defects and consequent degeneration contribute to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). OA affects the mechanical integrity of the tissue, whose main function is to absorb shock and minimize peak loads in the underlying subchondral bone.
Tissue engineering methods propose solutions to OA by implanting chondrocyte cell-enriched hydrogel/scaffold constructs within degenerative cartilage defects. By applying mechanical loads to stimulate the cells within the constructs, they initiate cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis. The mechanical environment of the cell-seeded construct has a crucial role in defining the quality and quantity of the regenerated ECM. This will determine the mechanical performance of the cartilage tissue. Indeed, any repair method has to aim at restoring the unique cartilage mechanics, in particular, the energy absorption capacity.
This project aims at restoring energy absorption of degenerative cartilage by optimizing regeneration in cell-enriched construct implants. The goal will be pursued by developing an in-silico framework for mechanobiological modelling of the regeneration and degeneration in the cartilage-implant compound during loading. Unique in the in-silico framework is the simultaneous modelling of regenerative and degenerative processes through adaptive modelling of the ECM. An innovative regeneration algorithm will be developed and integrated with a previously developed degeneration model. The adaptive model will then be used in an optimization scheme to minimize differences between energy absorption of construct implant and native human cartilage. An iterative performance evaluation is foreseen in comparison with biological experiments.
In collaboration with the participating research groups and using my background, I will have a unique chance to take a step forward in furthering insights on OA disease process. The anticipated collaborations and training will contribute to making me a mature researcher.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
3000 Leuven
Belgio