2008-08-27

Making use of cells “vices” for enhanced implants

Leading scientific journal features research image of University of Jena materials scientists as cover

Everyone knows that eating too much chocolate is no good. Still, all too often we succumb to the temptation. Cells, too, seem to like what isn’t necessarily good for them, as materials scientists at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena have found out. The scientists from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology (IMT) want to utilize this discovery to enhance implant surfaces. The team at the Chair of materials science is currently making an impression by the visual appearance of their research: The renowned scientific journal “Advanced Functional Materials”, “a leading scientific journal in materials science”, as Prof. Dr. Klaus Jandt, Chair in Materials Science emphasizes, has used an image of his group’s results for the cover.

The materials scientists at Jena University are exploring new implant materials and aim to improve the ones currently in use. For their recent scientific investigations they partially coated and patterned an implant surface with extracellular matrix proteins (ECMs). ECM is a kind of glue in natural tissues and plays a major role in cellular communication. Furthermore, natural EMC coating should promote cellular adhesion and growth on the implants. The voids between the ECM surface pattern were filled with a synthetic material, epoxide. “As of now epoxide was considered to be not beneficial for cellular health,” says Dr. David Trimbach, a member of Prof. Jandt’s group. This material is normally used commercially in glues or composite materials.

Directed cell growth through epoxide

The cells behaved in a way nobody expected: instead of preferring the natural ECM, the cells grew preferentially on the epoxide functionalized surface areas. The IMT scientists found an explanation for this odd cell behaviour. Adhesive proteins bind to the epoxide groups which promote the preferred adhesion of the cells. Prof. Jandt summarizes this result: “The preferential growth of cells on epoxide opens up a new road for directed cellar growth.” Further tests will show to what extent the human body will accept the epoxide coated implants. There is an important economic aspect of these results beyond their scientific impact. While ECMs are relatively expensive and hard to come by, epoxides are readily available and less expensive. “This is promising as epoxide coated implants will be less expensive than their EMC coated counterparts,” says Prof. Jandt.

Prof. Jandt suggests possible similarities between cellular and human behaviour. “The human condition does frequently give in to temptation of sweet and fatty food. Perhaps there is a disposition for this behaviour on the cellular level, as our results suggest.” The IMT materials scientists aim to apply their discovery as soon as possible in clinical implants.