28.11.2024
Doctoral thesis on improving treatments for tissue repair and regeneration with nanoparticles
M.Sc. Ezgi Özliseli’s doctoral thesis in Bioscience With Specialisation on Pharmacy will be put forth for public defence at Faculty of Science and Engineering at Åbo Akademi University.
The thesis is entitled Nanoparticle-aided delivery for tracking and controlling cell fate decisions in complex environments.
The public defence of the doctoral thesis takes place on Wednesday 4 December 2024 at 1.30PM in auditorium Argentum, Aurum, Henrikinkatu 2, Turku. You can also follow the defence online. Docent Alexandra Stubelius, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, will serve as opponent and Professor Jessica Rosenholm, Åbo Akademi University, as custos.
Summary
Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine aim to replace, restore, and improve the function of damaged tissues and organs using scaffolds or hydrogels, combined with living cells and bioactive molecules like growth factors, enzymes, and small drugs. These materials create a 3D space that supports cell growth and tissue formation, with cells as core components and bioactive molecules as the tools driving their development. Regenerative medicine also utilizes specialized materials to deliver cells and bioactive molecules, activating the body’s natural healing processes for tissue repair. Despite progress, challenges such as poor stability and delivery of bioactive molecules, low cell survival, inadequate blood supply, unintended cell migration, and difficulty in directing stem cells (healer cells) to form specific tissues remain significant.
Addressing these challenges, this thesis investigates improving treatments for tissue repair and regeneration through the use of nanoparticles, particularly mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Nanoparticles are tiny carriers, 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, capable of delivering therapeutic agents directly to target sites, enhancing treatment efficiency, minimizing side effects, and opening new medical possibilities. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are a particularly versatile class of nanoparticles. Their structure, size, and surface can be customized for various applications, enabling them to protect and precisely deliver their cargo molecules where needed.
This dissertation reveals that MSNs are highly adaptable and safe, with no adverse effects on cellular functions. These findings emphasize the versatility and biofunctionality of MSNs, demonstrating their ability to be customized with surface modifications. Moreover, the results highlight that MSNs can be used to track cells over time and monitor their behavior without interference, deliver therapeutic agents directly to target tissues, reducing the required therapeutic dose and side effect risk, and can be used as a scaffold material for the controlled tissue growth within engineered materials. This work highlights how nanotechnology, and specifically MSNs, could make treatments more effective and reliable, improving therapy efficiency, and opening new possibilities for medical treatments to restore tissue functionality, ultimately advancing patient well-being and transforming medical care for the future.
Ezgi Özliseli can be reached by email ezgi.ozliseli@abo.fi.
The doctoral thesis can be read online through the Doria publication archive.
Click here for a press photo of the doctoral student.
Instructions for following the doctoral defence remotely:
To follow the defence, you need the Zoom software or the Google Chrome browser. You do not need to create a Zoom account to follow the defence. If you install the application, you participate by clicking on the meeting link, after which you should allow the link to open in the Zoom app.