[nanoPost] Design of new bioactive scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

Research Centre Spain

Our group works in tissue engineering at the interface between cell therapy, biomaterials and growth factor delivery. We are interested in all areas of tissue engineering, but we are currently more active in the regeneration of structural tissues such as ligaments, and in angiogenesis.

BIOMATERIALS: we work on scaffolds and drug delivery systems prepared from polysaccharides, blended polyesters and other biomacromolecules (e.g. silks). Our tissue scaffolds are either hydrogels or porous hydrophobic matrices.

CELL THERAPY: we focus on mesenchymal stem cells (adult stem cells) that we can expand and differentiate to osteoblasts, chondroblasts, fibroblasts, etc. We are currently working on optimizing the conditioning program to achieve full differentiation of these cells.

GROWTH FACTORS/DRUG DELIVERY: our group has extended expertise in the encapsulation and controlled release of proteins and peptides in micro- and nanoparticle carriers. We have already designed several controlled release carriers for both synthetic and natural signalling molecules.

FUTURE PERSPECTIVES: We aim to develop more biomimetic scaffold designs. Mainly scaffolds that include controlled structural design at several size scales (nano, micro, etc.). We also target the design of scaffolds with a more biomimetic composition having specific ligands to promote or induce cellular events. Examples include hydrogels presenting integrin-binding motifs, immobilized cytokines, etc. We also plan to implement biological activity to our scaffolds through the inclusion of growth factors in suitable controlled release systems. Finally, we want to explore the potential for tissue regeneration of mesenchymal stem cells in the context of the technologies expressed above.