Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTSThe development of biocompatible and immunocompatible medical products, such as medical devices and drugs, requires consideration of the interaction between materials or active substances and biology (biomolecules, cells, and tissues) to be able to use them safely on and in humans.
The group "Biological Material Analysis" therefore pursues an interdisciplinary approach. At the interface of medical device or drug development and immunobiology, materials, substances and active agents are evaluated, optimized, or newly developed for industrial partners. Standardized diagnostic screening test procedures are also developed for this purpose.
The focus is on cell-based test scenarios, test systems and analytical procedures for in vitro use. The developed processes form the basic framework for the questions to be investigated. In the implementation, the focus is primarily on physiological processes, i.e., processes in the patient. With such in vitro tests in the preclinical phase, the most suitable materials/active substances for the respective application can be identified and evaluated quickly and reliably, thus accelerating the development of novel medical products. The test scenarios are based on suitable acceptance criteria for method development and validation.
Immune cell-based mode of action assays for drug discovery
In the preclinical testing of drugs, bioassays, especially mode of action assays, are indispensable to investigate the desired mechanism of action or to validate it in vitro.
Various scenarios were developed in the working group for this purpose:
A) Because of their key role in inflammatory processes, macrophage-based standardized inflammation models have been established to study different inflammatory or immunomodulatory mechanisms.
B) Various test sequences to investigate the interaction with macrophages and/or mesenchymal stem cells (e.g., in new bone formation) are available for mode of action, functional or safety analyses.
