GREENPATCH - Green and bioactive 3D printed microalgae gel patches for guided skin and bone regeneration in diabetic foot ulcers

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus is a pathology in continuous growth: 400 million cases in the world. One of the most relevant complications of diabetes is the so-called diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), cause of long periods of outpatient treatment and hospitalisation and first cause of non-traumatic amputation (up to 85% of cases). In recent years, algal based biomass was used as an excellent renewable resource for the production of polymers in tissue engineering thanks to its higher growth rate, high amount of carbohydrates and metabolites which are transformed into monomers suitable for the development of novel polyesters. Algae-derived hybrid polyester scaffolds are extensively used for skin, bone, cartilage, cardiac, and nerve tissue regeneration due to their biocompatibility and tunable biodegradability. Recently researchers discovered that algae contains other biological properties beneficial for human tissue regeneration such as extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs originated from different cells of approximately all kinds of organisms recently got more attention because of their potential in treating diseases and reconstructive medicine. Many studies have been performed on mammalian-derived vesicles, but little attention has been paid to algae as valuable sources of EVs. Based on the above, this project proposal intends to integrate, with the collaboration of leading research centres in these areas such as university of Ferrara (UNIFE), Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli (IOR) and National Research Council (CNR), functionalized materials with microalgae extract and 3D Bioprinting to create innovative therapeutic protocols for the DFU treatment. GREENPATCH will develop advanced dressing materials coupled with algae derived additives, for the regeneration of bone and skin tissue in DFU. The groups involved in this project are UNIFE and IOR for the isolation and characterization of the bioactive components derived from microalgae and in vitro evaluation of the regenerative properties of the functionalized patch, while the IPCB-CNR will develop the multilayer patch based on functionalized hydrogels. Hydrogels will be synthesized starting from natural polymers, such as collagen and hyaluronic acid that will be eventually modified through the introduction of cross-linking functional groups to increase the stability in physiological environment and the printability. The development of the material will be followed by the realisation and characterization of the multilayer patch loaded with microalgae bioactive components. Finally, the in vitro analysis will assess the tissue regeneration properties of the patch.