Human pathogens can persist on textiles and high-traffic surfaces for hours, days or even longer when protected in biofilms, increasing risk of infection spreading. Conventional cleaning has no lasting effect as contamination can re-occur almost immediately. Available antimicrobial coatings are based mainly on the release of silver ions and other biocides that present risks for resistance development and environmental damage. Inorganic nanoparticles are also a concern for human health. Nanocellulose is a versatile nanomaterial obtained from wood pulp or biotechnological methods, which has excellent physical properties for coatings, enabling controllable and standardised application of antimicrobial functionalities. In Triple-A-COAT the 3 forms of nanocellulose will be augmented for antimicrobial/antiviral activity through grafting/adsorption of novel, resistance-proof compounds with excellent activities against bacteria, fungi and/or viruses, and nanopatterning to create bio-inspired antimicrobial surfaces. Spray coating and thin film applications will be developed, optimising adherence to plastic, metal, textiles and glass. The most effective coatings will be evaluated for antimicrobial/antiviral activity, durability and non-toxicity using ISO standard tests, and in a simulation of a bus environment over 6 months to reach TRL6. A life cycle assessment of the platform will also be completed. The project consortium involves companies, academic and SME partners with leading expertise in novel antimicrobial and antiviral technology, nanocellulose production and functionalisation, coatings development and characterisation, as well as a bus manufacturer and an external User Committee. Within 5-10 years after the end of the project, the results will be commercialized for impact in the transportation and healthcare sectors, contributing to the better control of infectious disease, and boosting the competitiveness and research leadership of EU industry including SMEs.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) isolated from the Wharton jelly of the umbilical cord (UC-MSC) show great potential for the use in allogeneic stem cell therapies for various human diseases. However, the major limitation for the clinical use of allogeneic UC-MSC is their procoagulation activity, which is a consequence of expression of the tissue factor (TF), that can cause thromboembolism after transplantation, thus limiting their clinical usefulness. Preparation of UC-MSC without the TF (UCMSC-TF-) would enable safe clinical use of UC-MSC and bring their full therapeutic potential for treatment of patients. For this reason, preparation of UCMSC-TF- is the central goal of the “APApore4RNA” project. In the project, UCMSC-TF- will be prepared by utilizing the small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against TF to silence the expression of TF. The project will develop a novel nanotechnology for ex vivo intracellular delivery of siRNA that will combine the use of biodegradable calcium hydroxyapatite (APA) nanoparticles (NPs) (fellow’s experience) and electroporation (EP) (experience of the company EDUCELL) to enable efficient, safe and reproducible transfection of UC-MSC. The use of APA NPs will be based on the fellow’s recent study published in Biomaterials that revealed their unique membrane-disruptive property that enables rapid permeation of payloads across plasma membrane. Moreover, as APA has low dielectric constant, it is expected that APA NPs will strongly improve the EP process by reducing the applied electric field required for reversible membrane permeabilization and consequently improve the safety and efficacy of EP. In addition, important goal of the “APApore4RNA” project is to gain fundamental knowledge about underlying mechanisms of APA-mediated electropermeabilization of plasma membrane and payload permeation across the membrane.

Peri-implant infections are a devastating complication of dental implants, occurring in approximately 20% of all patients, that can ultimately lead to implant instability and loss. Considering this high prevalence rate and the lack of predictive treatments in severe cases, prevention of peri-implantitis has become a major challenge in clinical dentistry. NOMAD will develop innovative biomaterial approaches for dental implants, from TRL3 to TRL5. Various functionalised implant coatings for titanium and zirconia implant surfaces will reduce the risk of infection (and associated inflammation), improve soft-tissue sealing at the gum line, and promote osseointegration. A further innovation are multi-material crowns and abutments using additive manufacturing combined with grafting of nanotubes, enabling controlled release of prebiotic as well as antimicrobial compounds in response to bacterial adhesion at the onset of infection (i.e. smart conditional release). A combination of these approaches will be employed in the final product to provide a customisable, all-round solution focusing on crown, abutment and/or fixture for prevention of peri-implantitis. Advanced in vitro testing using complex cell co-cultures in bioreactor systems, and biomechanical stability tests will enable selecting the most promising biomaterials for testing in relevant in vivo models. These results will enable rapid progression to first-in-human studies of new biomaterials after the project. A cost-benefit and regulatory analysis will be performed and an innovation management strategy will develop a roadmap for commercialisation. The NOMAD consortium includes a major dental implant manufacturer, academic groups, SMEs working on biomaterials innovation and a specialist innovation company. The project is a major opportunity for enhancing EU competitiveness in biomaterials and inter-sector technology transfer.