Biomaterials serve as temporary or permanent replacements for tissue structures that are irreversibly damaged or functionally impaired.
Possible incompatibility of biomaterials used for total joint replacements and dressings for chronic wounds is triggered by inflammatory reactions in the host tissue, which are characterized by cell type-specific intracellular and extracellular signaling pathways.
These can lead to chronic foreign-body reactions. In addition, degradation products from the biomaterials can further enhance the foreign body reactions.
In this regard, the research training group GRK 2901/1 SYLOBIO funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), analyses the local as well as the systemic response to these biomaterials. The central research question is whether the systemic reaction to biomaterials is either triggered by biological factors from the biomaterial environment or whether systemic exposure to degradation products leads to inflammation in organs/tissues distant from the biomaterial.
In order to identify the complexity of material-induced inflammation and the patient-specific diversity of tissue response, a multidisciplinary approach is required to analyze systemic and local mechanisms of action in detail.
Three interdisciplinary research areas are defined in SYLOBIO:
Further epidemiological and systems biology cross-sectional areas will systematically integrate the findings from the in vitro, in vivo, and in silico studies into a network model.
