Anagrafe della ricerca

The effective treatment of bone defects, especially the larger ones resulting from impaired bone regeneration, compromised remodelling process (e.g. osteoporosis) or caused by trauma and tumour resection, still represents a challenging clinical issue. In addition, for these compromised clinical situations, the risk of bacterial infections is very high and increases the number of unsuccessful therapies. To address this challenge, the general objective of the ZODIAC project is to develop advanced biomaterials based on bioactive mesoporous glasses (MBGs) able to synergistically combine the effects of therapeutic ions with a dual antibacterial potential. In particular, the therapeutic ions will impart a high bioactivity and will exert pro-osteogenesis and pro-angiogenesis effects. The dual antibacterial potential will be obtained by providing MBGs with zwitterionic surfaces, that will prevent bacteria attachment and colonization, and through the release of bactericidal agents (ions or/and drugs). ZODIAC multifunctional nanocarriers will represent a big step towards novel therapies able to target simultaneously all the causes, often mutually interlocked, of the pathologies related to compromised tissue healing. In order to address the current gap between academic and industrial settings concerning the production of nanomaterials, ZODIAC will develop safe and resource efficient manufacturing processesfor an effective translation to pilot-scale production lines, which represents one of the essential step for the exploitation of the great potential of nanomaterials for innovative high-value products. ZODIAC will draw a road map towards the commercialization of a clinical device enabled by the developed materials, by defining the baseline for best-in-class commercially available solutions and by analysing the cost-benefit balance induced by a radical improvement of bone healing treatment on the long-term.