Resumo/Summary:

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are increasingly taking advantage of active materials, allowing to provide specific clues to the cells. In particular, the use of electroactive polymers that deliver an electrical signal to the cells upon mechanical solicitation, open new scientific and technological opportunities, as they in fact mimic signals and effects present in living tissues, creating suitable microenvironments for tissue regeneration.
Severe injuries that result in significant loss of muscle tissue may overwhelm the innate repair process and require intervention if muscle function is to be restored. In order to answer relevant scientific questions and to provide clear insights into the potential of therapeutics based on electroactive materials, the aim of the project is the development of 3D smart injectable supports based on piezoelectric fibers and water-permeable hydrogels to study the effect of the electro-mechanical stimulation on cell response during muscle differentiation for tissue engineering.
This approach is based on the effective existence of these stimuli in the microenvironment where these cells develop their function in vivo. Biocompatible electroactive polymeric materials in the form of fibers will be produced. As an alternative way to achieve effective stimulation, the materials will also be prepared with conductive polymeric coatings and magnetic or magnetostrictive nanoparticles.
The impact of electromechanical stimuli on differentiating myoblasts biology and behavior, and specifically in terms of gene and protein expression signature, will be evaluated. Ultimately, it will allow to produce populations of autologous cells with well characterized and adapted phenotype to the tissue to be regenerated, for their transplantation in the body into scaffolds with appropriate mechanical properties and bioresorption time for each tissue.
The effects of magnetic hyperthermia induced by magnetic nanoparticles will be studied on: a) normal differentiation of muscle cells and b) triggering the death of muscle cancer cells.
Our research group is leading innovation in the field, by producing electroactive materials with tailored piezoelectric response, microstructure, mechanical and electrical properties (see recent publications). To take full advantage of the potential of these materials for biomedical applications, the bioreactors (already designed and produced by our group), capable of generating the electro-mechanical stimulus by applying direct mechanical deformations into the scaffold or remotely using magnetic fields, will be optimized to adapt to the new biomaterials produced.