Luiza Mirt

PhD student (in cotutelle with National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Romania)

Metal-ion Doped/Loaded Mesoporous Silica and Bioactive Glass (nano)particles for Tissue Engineering Applications

Supervisors: Prof. Anton Ficai (Bucharest), Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini (Erlangen)

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles and mesoporous bioactive glass are highly biocompatible materials with significant potential in bone regeneration and drug delivery, attributed to their porous structures and osteogenic properties [1,2]. Incorporating metal ions through loading their oxides into the pores and doping them into the silica matrix enhances their capability to controlled release of these specific ions for bone engineering. These therapeutic inorganic ions offer advantages such as stability, interactive potential with other ions to modify biological functions, and compatibility with typical manufacturing conditions for inorganic biomaterial production [3]. Research will focus on synthesizing these materials with metal ions and forming hydrogel composites using biopolymers to create injectable materials for tissue engineering. Injectable materials contribute to minimizing invasive procedures, patient discomfort, risk of postoperative infection and treatment costs, while ensuring uniform defect filling [4]. This project is based on a cotutelle agreement between FAU and National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest (Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies), Romania.

1. Pouroutzidou, G. K.; Liverani, L.; Theocharidou, A.; Tsamesidis, I.; Lazaridou, M.; Christodoulou, E.; Beketova, A.; Pappa, C.; Triantafyllidis, K. S.; Anastasiou, A. D.; Papadopoulou, L.; Bikiaris, D. N.; Boccaccini, A. R.; Kontonasaki, E., Synthesis and Characterization of Mesoporous Mg- and Sr-Doped Nanoparticles for Moxifloxacin Drug Delivery in Promising Tissue Engineering Applications. Int J Mol Sci 2021, 22 (2).2. Hooshmand, S.; Mollazadeh, S.; Akrami, N.; Ghanad, M.; El-Fiqi, A.; Baino, F.; Nazarnezhad, S.; Kargozar, S., Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles and Mesoporous Bioactive Glasses for Wound Management: From Skin Regeneration to Cancer Therapy. Materials (Basel) 2021, 14 (12).
3. Yang, Y.; Liu, Y.; Song, L.; Cui, X.; Zhou, J.; Jin, G.; Boccaccini, A. R.; Virtanen, S., Iron oxide nanoparticle-based nanocomposites in biomedical application. Trends Biotechnol 2023, 41 (12), 1471-1487.
4. Demir-Oğuz, Ö., Boccaccini, A. R., Loca, D., Injectable bone cements: What benefits the combination of calcium phosphates and bioactive glasses could bring?. Bioact. Mater., 2023, 19, 217-236.