Descripción del proyecto
SOFT COLLOIDS, BASED ON SELF- ASSOCIATIVE STRUCTURES SUCH AS MICELLES AND LIPOSOMES, BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY FROM THEIR HARD COUNTERPARTS, DIFFERENCES IN THE BEHAVIOR OF THESE SOFT COLLOIDS ARE CONNECTED WITH THEIR INTERNAL STRUCTURE, THAT PROVIDES DEGREES OF FREEDOM NOT AVAILABLE TO THEIR HARD COUNTERPARTS, MANY ASPECTS OF THEIR BEHAVIOR REMAIN POORLY UNDERSTOOD, STUDYING THESE SYSTEMS IS VERY MUCH AT THE FOREFRONT OF MODERN COLLOIDAL SCIENCE, BOTH BECAUSE OF THE SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES THEY PRESENT AND BECAUSE OF THEIR TECHNOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: LIVING SYSTEMS, AFTER ALL, ARE ORGANIZED AROUND SELF-ASSOCIATING COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS SUCH AS PROTEINS AND LIPID MEMBRANES,THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE WORK THAT IS ON-GOING IN MY GROUP IS ELUCIDATING BASIC PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING INTERACTIONS OF INORGANIC MATERIALS WITH BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND APPLYING THESE PRINCIPLES TOWARDS IMPROVING IMPLANT DESIGN, TO THIS END, WE ARE ON ONE HAND SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATING A SIMPLE MODEL SYSTEM ENCOMPASSING LIPOSOMES (LIPID BILAYER SHELLS) INTERACTING WITH THE SURFACE OF AN IMPLANT MATERIAL, AND ON THE OTHER HAND STUDYING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MEMBRANOUS BLOOD COMPONENTS SUCH AS MICROPARTICLES AND THE SAME MATERIAL, THE MATERIAL OF CHOICE IS TITANIA, DUE TO ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE DESIGN OF IMPLANTS, IN OUR STUDIES, WE FOCUS ON THE EFFECT INTERACTION WITH THE INORGANIC SURFACE HAS ON THE MEMBRANE PROPERTIES OF LIPOSOMES AND MICROPARTICLES, WE FOCUS ON THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT BECAUSE THE PROPERTIES AND BEHAVIOR OF THE LIPIDS IN THE LIPID BILAYER CONTROL THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SOFT SELF-ASSOCIATIVE COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS SUCH AS LIPOSOMES AND NATIVE MEMBRANOUS STRUCTURES, THEREFORE, THESE PROPERTIES ALSO DETERMINE THE DYNAMICS OF THE SOFT/HARD LIPOSOME/INORGANIC SURFACE INTERFACES, SURPRISINGLY, THESE ASPECTS HAVE NOT BEEN EXTENSIVELY STUDIED UNTIL NOW,WE ARE TRANSLATING THE KNOWLEDGE BASIC PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING INTERACTIONS OF INORGANIC MATERIALS WITH BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OBTAINED WITH THE MODEL SYSTEM (LIPOSOMES/INORGANIC SURFACE) INTO APPLICATION BY EXPLOITING THE ABILITY OF THE BLOOD-DERIVED COMPONENTS TO PROMOTE IMPLANT INTEGRATION, TO THIS END, WE FOCUS ON THE BLOOD-DERIVED MICROPARTICLES AND PLATELETS, THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH THE IMPLANT SURFACE, AND THE BIOCOMPATIBILITY PROPERTIES OF THE RESULTING INTERFACES, BIOMATERIALES\OXIDO DE TITANIO\SANGRE\BIOCOMPATIBILIDAD\LIPIDAS\LIPOSOMAS\VESICULAS\MICROBALANZA DE CUARZO.