Manuel Salmerón, an ICREA research professor at IBEC and the principal investigator of the Microenvironments for Medicine group, has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. These prestigious grants are awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) to explore the commercial and social potential of research projects that have previously received ERC funding. Applicants use this funding to verify the practical feasibility of scientific concepts, explore business opportunities, and prepare patent applications.
Salmerón's project, FACTORINK, focuses on manufacturing bioinks with biological functionality for in vitro tissue printing. Bioinks are hydrogel-based materials containing living cells and other biomaterials, such as proteins. These materials are used in 3D bioprinting; however, for this technique to work properly, the bioinks must be biocompatible and recreate an environment that allows the cells to survive and behave as they would in the human body. This is essential for manufacturing in vitro tissue models that can be used in biomedical research and drug development. To achieve this, bioinks must mimic the extracellular matrix by offering well-defined mechanical properties and biochemical signals, such as controlled stiffness, adhesion proteins and growth factors. However, current commercial bioinks are limited as they do not effectively retain growth factors, which quickly diffuse after printing.
In this context, IBEC researchers have designed a new class of bioinks that incorporate extracellular matrix proteins. These proteins preserve their biological function, allowing the bioinks to act as a reservoir for growth factors.
“We have demonstrated the potential of this technology using simple cell models. This funding is a great opportunity that will allow us to continue developing these bioinks for use in more sophisticated applications, including multicellular models that incorporate the immune system.” The results will consolidate the technology and open up commercialisation opportunities,” explains Salmeron.
Through the FACTORINK project, the IBEC team aims to realise the potential of bioinks by showcasing their capacity to contain multiphase models incorporating stem cells, endothelial cells, and the immune system. Data collected through the project is expected to inform the commercialisation of the products and generate new intellectual property.