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The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration / INES SANTOS

Swansea University Author: INES SANTOS

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Abstract

Innervation is a vital physiological process enabling communication between bodily functions and the central nerve system (CNS). It is expected that innervation plays an important role in tissue regeneration. However, there is a significant knowledge gap on the innervative capacity of synthetic biom...

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Published: Swansea 2025
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Master of Research
Degree name: MSc by Research
Supervisor: Xia, Z. and Davies, J.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70696
first_indexed 2025-10-16T08:59:14Z
last_indexed 2025-10-17T09:31:26Z
id cronfa70696
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2025-10-16T09:59:11.7250408 v2 70696 2025-10-16 The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration 2c8fd59bc3081db9a11ff4265d9d72ac INES SANTOS INES SANTOS true false 2025-10-16 Innervation is a vital physiological process enabling communication between bodily functions and the central nerve system (CNS). It is expected that innervation plays an important role in tissue regeneration. However, there is a significant knowledge gap on the innervative capacity of synthetic biomaterials for the purposes for skeletal tissue engineering. This study aimed to investigate the innervation potential and improvement of the regenerative capacity of a biomaterial composed of hydroxyapatite/aragonite (HAA). Three main objectives were explored:1) To assess whether HAA exhibits toxicity with HUMSCs and ReNcells through Alamar Blue assays and live cell imaging, 2) To determine the capacity of HAA to support neuronal growth and proliferation, and 3) To investigate the potential of HAA to enhance bone regeneration in an in vivo femoral-defect rat model. Following material preparation and characterization, HAA was tested in vitro using a co-culture of ReNcells and HUMSC where cell morphology, proliferation, and differentiation were monitored. HAA scaffolds were implanted into in vivo models, where they promoted bone regeneration by increasing bone callus formation, quantified via microCT scanning. The results indicate that HAA is non-toxic towards the co-culture. Through immunofluorescence and live cell imaging, we observed that ReNcells within the co-cultured showed consistent growth and proliferation through the first 7 days and successfully differentiated into matured neurons by day 14. The addition of HAA to the in vivo model showed a significant reduction in fracture gap width relative to the untreated. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate the potential to produce an innervative biomaterial for skeletal tissue engineering, offering a promising approach for skeletal tissue regeneration. Future research should aim to optimize cell deposition onto HAA by refining the fabrication methods to produce more uniform scaffold structures, applying techniques to quantify neuronal differentiation markers will also be essential to further clarify HAA’s innervative capacity. E-Thesis Swansea hydroxyapatite/aragonite, HAA, skeletal tissue regeneration, biomaterials, bone innervation 8 10 2025 2025-10-08 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Xia, Z. and Davies, J. Master of Research MSc by Research 2025-10-16T09:59:11.7250408 2025-10-16T09:52:34.7699799 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Biomedical Science INES SANTOS 1 70696__35356__caa0ffa88fac4b01a15e30bce833bbeb.pdf 2025_Dos_Santos_I.final.70696.pdf 2025-10-16T09:58:47.3067248 Output 2022171 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The author, Inês Sousa dos Santos, 2025 true eng
title The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
spellingShingle The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
INES SANTOS
title_short The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
title_full The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
title_fullStr The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
title_full_unstemmed The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
title_sort The development of innervative biomaterials for skeletal tissue regeneration
author_id_str_mv 2c8fd59bc3081db9a11ff4265d9d72ac
author_id_fullname_str_mv 2c8fd59bc3081db9a11ff4265d9d72ac_***_INES SANTOS
author INES SANTOS
author2 INES SANTOS
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Biomedical Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Biomedical Science
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Innervation is a vital physiological process enabling communication between bodily functions and the central nerve system (CNS). It is expected that innervation plays an important role in tissue regeneration. However, there is a significant knowledge gap on the innervative capacity of synthetic biomaterials for the purposes for skeletal tissue engineering. This study aimed to investigate the innervation potential and improvement of the regenerative capacity of a biomaterial composed of hydroxyapatite/aragonite (HAA). Three main objectives were explored:1) To assess whether HAA exhibits toxicity with HUMSCs and ReNcells through Alamar Blue assays and live cell imaging, 2) To determine the capacity of HAA to support neuronal growth and proliferation, and 3) To investigate the potential of HAA to enhance bone regeneration in an in vivo femoral-defect rat model. Following material preparation and characterization, HAA was tested in vitro using a co-culture of ReNcells and HUMSC where cell morphology, proliferation, and differentiation were monitored. HAA scaffolds were implanted into in vivo models, where they promoted bone regeneration by increasing bone callus formation, quantified via microCT scanning. The results indicate that HAA is non-toxic towards the co-culture. Through immunofluorescence and live cell imaging, we observed that ReNcells within the co-cultured showed consistent growth and proliferation through the first 7 days and successfully differentiated into matured neurons by day 14. The addition of HAA to the in vivo model showed a significant reduction in fracture gap width relative to the untreated. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate the potential to produce an innervative biomaterial for skeletal tissue engineering, offering a promising approach for skeletal tissue regeneration. Future research should aim to optimize cell deposition onto HAA by refining the fabrication methods to produce more uniform scaffold structures, applying techniques to quantify neuronal differentiation markers will also be essential to further clarify HAA’s innervative capacity.
published_date 2025-10-08T17:15:49Z
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score 11.106612

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