Why is PectiCoat?
Surfaces of medical materials and devices that come into direct contact with human tissues need to be fine-tuned with regard to both physical and biological properties. A cross­disciplinary nanotechnology approach is proposed that aims to impart material surfaces with appropriate biological properties.

This approach gathers competences from across Europe and includes a critical mass of resources necessary to accelerate the R&D process. The biomolecules that are to be grafted enta surfaces to function as nanocoatings have been selected from a class of complex polysaccharides, the pectic rhamnogalacturonans, that are known to possess anti-inflammatory properties as weil as desirable physical properties. Sugar molecular structure will be altered in a controlled manner so as to favourably influence living cell behaviour around the coated materials.

The project team
Current knowledge and expertise within our project team covers technologies to manufacture a range of tailored polysaccharides, to attach the molecules covalently to relevant biomaterials (e.g. titanium for dental implants) and to characterize the grafted surfaces and to assess their biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo.

Objectives
We expect to generate evidence demonstrating both the antiinflammatory and molecular flexibility of the innovative nanocoatings. This will open a platform for the development of a large range of applications that will be defined through industrial guidance and result in solutions for current bioincompatibility problems of various implantable devices.

The partners

Participant name (short name), Country:

• Uteam SA (previously named "Divergent"), France
• Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC), France
• Nobil BioRicerche s.r.1. (12NBR), Italy
• Wageningen University (WU), Netherlands
• Aarhus University (DJF), Denmark
• University of Oulu (UOulu), Finland
• University of Trento (UNITN), Italy
• University of Leeds (ULEEDS), United Kingdom
• Joint Research Centre (JRC), International
• Statice Santé (Statice), France
• Agliati (Agliati), Italy