Project description: We propose expertise in the design, synthesis and characterization of new self-assembling nanomaterial scaffolds. Similar biomaterials have recently become promising tools for regenerative medicine for repairing nervous tissue in brain lesions, stop bleeding in seconds or regenerating infarctuated myocardia. These kind of synthetic peptides can easily be functionalized to incorporated ad hoc functional motifs for specific tissue engineering applications. At the present we are exploring this nanotechnology for the development of 3D scaffolds for the culture of neural stem cells, but this technology can be extended to different cell types and different kinds of tissue regeneration. We have been focusing in the use of such scaffolds in the regeneration of nervous tissue in in vivo rat models of sciatic nerve transection and spinal cord injury. The scope of the project to propose to the FP7 would be within this scheme, and we are open to focus mainly in one part of the process and leave others to our partners, but in particular we are interested in developing new biomaterials for the analysis of neural stem cell behaviour in a context of regeneration. Still, we are also open to new tissue engineering applications rather than the regeneration of the nervous tissue.
We believe that joining efforts of experts in the fields of molecular modelling, peptide synthesis and characterization, in vitro cell culture and in vivo animal testing can be the strategy to an effective tissue regeneration in clinics.

Our laboratory is dedicated the development of biomaterials for tissue engineering applications and in particular we are focusing in the use of neural stem cells for nerve regeneration both in vitro and in in vivo animal models. We are searching partners for the establishment of a consortium for application to FP7 Theme 4, which are able to help in some part of the process, from new biomaterial design and characterization and stem cell studies to in vivo animal analysis, and also partners able to transpose to clinical trials our in vitro and animal model in vivo studies.

Partner sought:
Research Institute/University; Technical Centre/Technology Transfer Centre
Development of biomaterial scaffolds for stem cell culture OR Tissue engineering applications
Joint consortium for application to FP7 Theme 4 funding