Where Ideas Grow

i3S part of European project to study skeletal pain

The European project "BonepainII", which i3S is part of, was recently funded by the European Union with 4.4 million euros. BonepainII is a European Innovative Training Network (ITN) to promote research, innovation and education in the field of skeletal pain, with the participation of six European countries over eight research groups and four companies. The goal is to train 15 young specialists in the study of bone pain and in the development of new therapies. The mission of the Portuguese research group is to develop experimental models that best recreate the environment of bone metastases.

 

Millions of people worldwide suffer from bone pain, whether associated with arthrosis, fractures caused by osteoporosis, rare diseases, or bone metastases. Although it is a very debilitating pain and strongly affects the quality of life of many people, research on bone pain is still very limited. "In our group", says i3S researcher Meriem Lamghari, "we are going to develop an in vitro model based on chips that simulate the complexity and environment of human organs". These 3D models "allow us to recreate an in vitro reality very similar to reality, allowing us to study the interaction between nerve cells, bone and cancer cells", says the researcher.

 

For a better understanding of this type of pain, Portuguese researchers will adapt 3D models on chip that they developed for other studies, placing in the different compartments nerve cells, bone cells, and cancer cells. The interaction environment in these chips simulates the interaction between cells in the human organ through tiny channels that allow different cells to communicate with each other. For example, "we know that in a situation of bone metastasis, the nerve fibers in the area undergo significant increase in their growth. We want to know why they grow abnormally in these situations, which of the three groups of cells is sending signals, and to whom", says Meriem Lamghari. In addition, she adds, "these 3D models can also be used to test potential therapies".

 

 

The work of the i3S researcher, entitled "3D microfluidic-based models to address the growth of pathological nerve fibers associated with bone metastases", is part of the BonepainII project and is funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie action.