1. BIOACTIVE GLASS-BASED COMPOSITE
SCAFFOLDS FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING
APPLICATIONS

2. The generation of Prometheus1
1Meyer, U.; et. al. Fundamentals of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. 2009.
MATERIAL
SCIENCE
CELL
BIOLOGY
LIFE
SCIENCES
CLINICAL
USE
Stimulating tissue to self-regenerate

3. …“systematically and pharmacologically inert substances designed for
implementation within or incorporation with living system.“
Porosity 50 – 90 %
open and connected
Young‘s modulus 1-2 MPa1
HA:collagen ratio 70:30
Ca:P ratio 1,37 – 1,87
Self-regeneration YES, but limited
Vascularizated tissue Yes, highly
1E. Taheri, B. Sepehri and R. Ganji, "Mechanical Validation of Perfect Tibia 3D Model Using Computed Tomography Scan," Engineering, Vol. 4 No. 12, 2012, pp. 877-880. doi: 10.4236/eng.2012.412111.
2Knauss P. [Material properties and strength behaviour of spongy bone tissue at the coxal human femur. (author's transl)]. Biomed Tech (Berl). 1981 Sep;26(9):200-10. German.

4. INORGANIC ORGANIC
 Ceramic and glass
 Induce bone mineral formation in vitro
 Highly biocompatible
 Biodegradable
 Low solubility (if highly crystalline)
 Highly brittle // low mechanical strength
 Natural or synthetic biopolymers
 Hydrophilic
 Non-osteogenic
 Low mechanical stiffness
HA
CaP
Bioactive
glass collagen
PEG
Gellan
gum

5. n/n % SiO2 CaO P2O5 Na2O
BAG-A 70 30
BAG-B 66 22 2 10
3N. Drnovšek and S. Novak, Development of Coatings on Ti6Al4V Alloy for New Generation Implants Bone with Improved Osseointegration: Doctoral Dissertation, N. Drnovšek, 2012.

6.  Combine bioactive glass particles with natural and synthetic
biopolymer matrix
 Prepare 3D biodegradable scaffolds
 accessible „off-the-shelf“
 applicable with minimum invasivity
 Study the effect of bioactive glass on…
 …scaffolds architecture, mechanical properties, degradation rate
and bioactivity
 Chemical-physical characterization of the composites

7. Sphingomonas paucimobilis
GG

8. HS
HS
SH
SH

9. °
Random coil Double helix HS
HS
SH
SH

11. Tf GG GG-BAG
- 20 °C
- 80 °C
∼ ∼
∼ ∼
µm

12. brittle
elastic
softening the dry scaffold by more interactions of scaffold with water

13. SiO2-CaO SiO2-CaO-P2O5-Na2O
Na+
Na+

14. PBS
pore size in rehydrated scaffolds
2.42 - 2.52 µm
pH
µm
Ca2+

15. hydroxyapatite
precipitation

16. HS
HS
SH
SH

18. Active participation of BAG in cross-linking? pH

21. Ca2+ & Si4+
4Tadashi Kokubo, Hiroaki Takadama, How useful is SBF in predicting in vivo bone bioactivity?, Biomaterials, Volume 27, Issue 15, May 2006, Pages 2907-2915, ISSN 0142-9612.
pH
HS
HS
SH
SH
hydroxyapatite
precipitation

22. Hela
Cell Culture
Insert
Media
Dynamic hydrogel
with or without BAG
nanoparticles

23. YES Active participation in cross-linking NO (slower dynamic bond exchange)
YES, better with 2-comp. BAG Improved mechanical characteristics YES, hardening effect
More uniform porosity Structure Still able to self-heal
YES, slow Biodegradable with suitable pH profile YES, quite fast
YES Bioactivity of the composite YES
Limited biological evaluation

24. • Prof. dr. Saša Novak, supervisor
• Jožef Stefan Institute – colleagues at K7 department (dr. Nataša Drnovšek, Rok Kocen,
dr. Martina Lorenzetti, Maja Koblar, Kaja Križman, Mateja Paščinski, Gregor Murn)
• Prof. dr. Janez Stepišnik - Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
• Prof. dr. Odon Planinšek – Faculty for pharmacy
• Slovenian research agency - funding
• COST Action MP1005 NAMABIO „From nano to macro biomaterials (design, processing,
characterization, modeling) and applications to stem cells regenerative orthopedic and
dental medicine“
• 3B‘s research group Minho University (Portugal) – dr. Vitor M. Correlo, prof.dr. Rui L.
Reis, Lucília P. da Silva
• IK4 CIDETEC Biomaterials group – dr. Damien Dupin, dr. Iraida Loinaz, dr. Pablo
Casuso and dr. Adrián Pérez (Spain)