| Sep 06, 2012 |
Coatings for a positive response to implants
|
|
(Nanowerk News) Suppressing rejection of implants is a well known goal in medicine. EU-funded researchers sought to raise the bar by developing natural coatings that encourage cell activity and colonisation of implants at the same time.
|
|
Medical devices that come in contact with human tissue must be carefully designed. Minimising adverse biological effects while maximising the therapeutic benefits for which they were intended is key.
|
|
One way of enhancing biocompatibility is application of specialised coatings. European researchers set out to develop biologically-based coatings to impart medical device surfaces with novel bioactive properties.
|
|
Supported by funding of the ‘Nanobiotechnology for the coating of medical devices’ (Pecticoat) project, scientists focused on pectins, a subclass of polysaccharides. Pectins are complex sugars found in the cell walls of land plants.
|
|
The Pecticoat project studied pectins called rhamnogalacturonans (RGs) and particularly RG-I. They investigated the important potential of modifying plant RG-I such that it would stimulate cell colonisation of human implants without stimulating inflammation, immune and rejection responses.
|
|
Careful analysis of mechanisms by which cell activity is induced in host tissue helped scientists design tailor-made pectin-based molecules to improve the biocompatibility of dental implants and other medical devices.
|
|
Cooperation with industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should help bring Pecticoat coating technology to market quickly with important benefits for patients, manufacturers and healthcare systems.
|
