STABILITY OF MACROMOLECULES

Author: GARRETA BAHIMA ELENA.
Year: 2005.
University: RAMÓN LLULL [www.url.edu].
Place of defense: ESCUELA TÉCNICA SUPERIOR IQS.
Place of preparation: ESCUELA TÉCNICA SUPERIOR IQS.

Summary: The bone and cartílago are specialized tissues with a complex hierarchical structure, they basically are composed of a highly organized and extracellular matrix cells. Despite the fact that the two tissues are intimately related, they differ in composition, structure and mechanical properties. Consequently, each meets with different mechanical and biological functions that complement each other, providing the structure and functions of the joint. The surgical procedures that involve the replacement or repair of bone or cartilage represent about 2 million in the United States. The current treatments for severe injuries and degenerative diseases of these tissues require very often of surgery to replace the damaged area with a synthetic prosthesis. Although this practice has a particular index of success accepted for decades, the problems of corrosion, infection and loss of membership at the interface tejido-prótesis still not been resolved and now there is no effective solution for the repair of bone and cartilage. For this reason, it has generated a growing interest in the development of substitutes for bone and cartilage that are capable of regenerating these tissues, and not just replace them. Recently, a new area of research known as tissue engineering has become a very important field of research along with regenerative medicine. This discipline is aimed at developing artificial organs and tissues, taking into account the natural signaling mechanisms and components of the organism and combining this knowledge of cell biology to the use of biocompatible materials that can act as vehicles or inducing the formation of new tissue . In this sense, the science of biomaterials is a key area within the engineered tissue, along with the cellular biology, and seeks to design materials that can monitor specific biological reactions. This dissertation is part of an overall project that has the finalidM to generate a program of biomaterials for the regeneration of bone and cartilage. This program aims to develop biomaterials for each of the three main parts of articulation: bone, cartilage and the interface between the two. So, the objective of this dissertation is the development of biocompatible materials for the manufacture of three-dimensional structures that permit the introduction and proliferation of cells, and the design of delivery of drugs directed (drug delivery), to promote regeneration of cartilaginous and osseous tissues. The dissertation is organized into five chapters, taking into account the three areas mentioned above articulation. The capitulas 1 and 2 deal with the synthesis of hydroxyapatite bioactive materials as substitutes for bone tissue. In chapter 3 has been developed by plasma polymerization method for modifying the surface of biomaterials with the aim of increasing its biocompatibility and to induce specific cellular responses. In this way you can improve the integration of biomaterials with the tissue around them, being very useful at the interface between bone and cartilage, as the intimate union between these two tissues is critical to restoring the function of articulation . Chapter 4 describes the synthesis and characterization of hydrogels termosensibles for implementation as supply system targeted drugs designed to improve the regeneration of bone and cartilage. Finally, in Chapter 5 presents a system of cultivation 8 cell 3af in three dimensions for the engineering of bone tissue which induces differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells and mouse embryonic fibroblast cells type osteoblasto using a three-dimensional synthetic matrix.