PED 97/2017

Project leader:

PhD Raluca Nicoleta Ion

Phone number: 021.318.15.75/int 106
Fax : 021.318.15.75/int 102
E-mail: rciubar@yahoo.com

Coordinating Institution:

University of Bucharest

Faculty of Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

www.dbbm.bio.unibuc.ro

Partner Institutions:

University Politehnica of Bucharest

Contractual authority:

UEFISCDI

Project code:

PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2016-0910

Project type and number:

PED 97/2017

Titlul proiectului:

Innovative surface design to extend the life and safety of dental and orthopedic implants

Acronym:

NovSurf

Duration:

18 months

Budget:

600.000 lei

Summary

NovSurf addresses a critical health issue, namely the increasing incidence of dental and orthopedic implant revisions due to implant associated infection and inflammation, by proposing a novel approach based on development of a surface topography of nanochannelar type on titanium implants by anodization, on which zinc oxide nanoparticles will be incorporated as antimicrobial agents. The newly designed surface is expected to reduce the susceptibility of titanium implants to microbial colonization, to enable the decontamination of implants if infection occurs and to support bone healing around the implant. In-depth characterization of physical properties, chemical composition and biological activity of modified titanium surface is envisaged. In vitro studies will evaluate its antimicrobial and anti-biofilm properties, its bioactivity, and inflammatory potential. Preliminary in vivo evaluation of the extent of bone regeneration after insertion in rats’ femur of surface modified titanium pins will provide efficacy data insuring the proof of concept by the end of the project. The project is built on two pillars of expertise afferent to the institutions involved, namely the strong background in the electrochemical deposition of TiO2 nanostructures on implant materials and their characterization at University Politehnica of Bucharest, and the excellent capabilities in assessment of microbial and cell-biomaterial interactions at University of Bucharest. The team gathers researchers with complementary expertise acting in a synergistic manner in order to solve an important health issue related to implant failure. If our expectation will be fulfilled, the findings may form a good foundation for further potential clinical validation of Ti-based implants with this innovative surface design as ready products for clinical applications.

The specific objectives of this project are:

• to develop a proper surface treatment procedure to obtain nanochannels with optimized geometry on Ti, having incorporated ZnO NP;
• to test in vitro the biological properties of nanochannelar ZnO NP functionalized Ti samples compared to control samples of unmodified Ti;
• to transfer the surface modification process to implants currently marketed and to test its efficiency in vivo;
• to disseminate the results of the project to possible end-users such as hospitals and industry.

Expected results of the project are:

• development of a new technology for titanium surface coating and functionalization for industrial implementation;
• new knowledge regarding development of Ti coating, cell-material interactions and bacteria-material interactions, which will be disseminated through the project web site, ISI scientific papers and communications to scientific reunions.

Participation at international scientific reunions:

1. R. Ion, A. Mazare, C. Dumitriu, V. Mitran, P. Neacsu, P. Schmuki, A. Cimpean, Impact of Nanochannelar Surface Topography of Titanium Alloy on Osteoblast and Osteoclast Differentiation, International Bone-Tissue-Engineering Conference 12 – 14 October 2017, Munich, Germania, poster.
2. C. Pirvu, S. Popescu, Titanium surface modification for improving interaction with biological environment, 5th Asia Conference on Mechanical and materials Engineering (ACMME 2017), 9-11 June 2017, Tokyo, oral presentation.
3. C. Dumitriu, C. Manole, R. Ion, C.Pirvu, ZnO – TiO2 nanostructured surfaces for biological applications, RICCCE 20 – 20th Romanian International Conference on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Poiana Brasov, Romania, 6-9 September, 2017, oral presentation.
4. C. Manole, C. Dumitriu, C.Pirvu, Charge carrier density studies for TiO2/ZnO nanostructures: An insight into the applicative driving force, RICCCE 20 – 20th Romanian International Conference on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Poiana Brasov, Romania, 6-9 Septembrie, 2017, oral presentation.
5. R. Ion, M. Popa, C. Dumitriu, C.Pirvu, L. Marutescu, C. Chifiriuc, V. Mitran, A. Cimpean, Reduced inflammatory response and bacterial growth on ZnO decorated nanochannels formed on TiZralloy, abstract accepted at the 29th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Biomaterials, which will take place in September 9–13, 2018 in Maastricht, Netherlands, poster.

Participation at national scientific reunions:

1. R. Ion, C. Dumitriu, V. Mitran, M.G. Necula, C. Pirvu, A. Cimpean, Zinc oxide nanoparticle incorporated nanochannelar interface leads to improved cellular responses, The 10th National Congress with International Participation and the 36th Annual Scientific Session of the Romanian Society of Cell Biology, 6-9 June, Craiova, Romania, poster.

 

ISI Articles:

1. Patranoiu, M. D. Hussien, J. Calderon-Moreno, I. Atkinson, A. M. Musuc, G. Ionita, R. Ion, A. Cimpean, M.C. Chifiriuc, O. Carp, Eco-friendly synthesized spherical ZnO materials: promising antimicrobial agents, submitted to Materials Science and Engineering C, FI=4.164. Status: under review.
2. R. Ion, A. Mazare, C. Dumitriu, C. Pirvu, P. Schmuki, A. Cimpean, Nanochannelar topography positively modulates osteoblast differentiation and inhibits osteoclastogenesis, submitted to Materials, FI=2.467. Status: pending review.