BRITE Pivot: Investigating the Role of Collagen Piezoelectricity in Biomineralization Enhanced by Force Inputs

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

This Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) Pivot award supports fundamental research to answer the question of how bone remodels itself into an ideal structure and material. Bone is an extraordinarily ‘smart’ structural material, adapting its composition and properties in response to external forces applied to it. By remodeling itself, bone maintains its mechanically ideal design to support the skeletal system throughout our lifetime. As such, a better understanding of the mechanism to describe its adaptive behavior is extremely useful not only for improving clinical treatment but also for mimicking its design strategy for various engineering applications. This project will employ state-of-the-art techniques matured in the field of micro/nano-technology to develop a multi-scale/multi-physical method specifically designed to address this long-standing biological question. The knowledge obtained from this study will provide strategies to design ‘smart’ materials using piezoelectricity to direct mineralization. The development of such smart materials could improve the safety, effectiveness, and affordability of designs in diverse fields, including bone substitutes, bio-materials, robotics, the automotive industry, clinical treatments, and electronics. The project will support the local community, providing research opportunities for undergraduate students and through the Korean-American society. A mini-conference for high school and early college students will be created as well as specific efforts in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the University. This project will focus on discovering bone’s mechano-transduction mechanism using changes in collagen piezo-electricity during the process of mineralization. Collagen I is bone’s main organic constituent and has a pivotal role in providing the structural template for bio-mineralization. However, the underlying mechanism directing the locations of mineral deposition are not known. The project will test the hypothesis that collagen piezo-electricity guides the locations of mineral deposition. The ability to convert mechanical stress into electric charge would therefore be key to targeting the mineral constituents and modulating bone stiffness. The team will design an experimental platform combining an advanced Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) loading device to image and biomineralization of collagen under physiological loading to directly observe and investigate in-vitro mineralization correlated with various conditions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.