| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C515617/1 |
| Title: |
Novel PHA/Bioglass composites for soft-tissue and hard-tissue engineering scaffolds |
| Principal Investigator: |
Roy, Professor I |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Life Sciences |
| Organisation: |
University of Westminster |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
21 March 2005 |
Ends: |
20 September 2006 |
Value (£): |
100,714
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Tissues in our body are prone to damage due to age, accident or illness. Replacing such damaged tissue is essential for movement of that particular body part and sometimes even for the survival of the patient concerned, for example in heart valve replacement. Hence, the area of science involved in replacing damaged tissue is very important to us. It is not always easy to find a good and reliable replacement for damaged tissue. Artificial substitutes for living tissue are not always ideal and more than often create problems like loss of shape and strength. In the past severe problems have been faced with permanent replacement of damaged tissue with artificial material. A new area of science called tissue engineering has evolved in the recent years. In this area, scientists use material that gradually degrades in the body to make supports called scaffolds. These scaffolds are implanted with natural cells which are then allowed to grow into the scaffold. This scaffold is then used to replace the damaged tissue. Gradually the cells implanted on the scaffold grow and form new tissue. In the same time period the supporting scaffold is degraded, leaving behind new tissue. However, finding suitable material for making such scaffolds is difficult. Our body reacts against most artificially made material. Hence, material which is accepted by the body, degrades at a reasonable rate and is able to support natural cell growth is quite a rare commodity. In this project we propose to generate novel material with such properties to make scaffolds for a variety of different tissue replacement applications i.e. for both soft and hard tissue replacements. Some examples of the range of applications include vein valves, heart valves, eye cell implants and bone grafts and cartilage repair to name just a few.In our laboratory we have bacteria that are capable of making large quantities of unique polymers which can be used to make such scaffolds. These polymers are accepted readily by the human body and they gradually degrade away in the body. Another extremely useful property of these bacteria is that they can be made to produce a variety of such polymers. This is brought about by changing the growth conditions of the bacteria, depending on the broth in which the bacteria is allowed to grow, the bacteria produce a range of different polymers. These polymers have different material properties and degradation rates in the human body. This fact has been reasonably exploited and some such polymers are being used to generate scaffolds. However, we have a new strain of bacteria with the potential of producing new, previously unknown polymers. In addition, we propose to increase the variability of the available polymer material by combining the new polymer produced with a special type of glass (45S5 Bioglass ), an excellent surface for cells to attach in the scaffold material. Hence, using various combinations of the polymer produced by the bacteria and bioactive glass particles we will aim to produce a range of novel materials suitable for making scaffolds in tissue engineering. These composites will have unique properties different from either of the individual materials. Hence, they can potentially address tissue engineering problems which neither of the individual materials could. This is an extremely useful proposition.Hence, this project will increase the potential of production of suitable biomaterial for a range of tissue engineering applications (both hard and soft tissue). It has the scope of improving human life tremendously and to revolutionise the area of tissue engineering.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.wmin.ac.uk |