PhD ceremony Mr. S.M. van Putten: The foreign body reaction. From fundamental macrophage biology towards effective modulation of the host’s response

PhD ceremony: Mr. S.M. van Putten

Dissertation: The foreign body reaction. From fundamental macrophage biology towards effective modulation of the host’s response

Promotor(s): prof. R.A. Bank

Faculty: Medical Sciences

Biomaterials are widely investigated and applied in tissue engineering, for example for the repair, restoration and augmentation of damaged or diseased tissue. Introducing these biomaterials into the body induces a biomaterial-dependent inflammatory response called the foreign body reaction (FBR). This inflammatory response is critically important for the functionality of the biomaterial. Adverse reactions to introduced biomaterials, ranging from tissue engineered constructs to orthopedic implants, have been reported. These examples indicate that our current understanding of the FBR is not sufficient to completely predict or prevent adverse foreign body reactions. Although the FBR has been studied for decades, many of the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms, that are crucial to the course of the FBR, are poorly understood at best. Several extensive reviews provide a good general overview of the processes that are involved in the FBR. Due to a shortage of fundamental research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving the FBR these reviews are full of assumptions and hypotheses that remain to be proven. In this thesis we describe our efforts to contribute to the general understanding of the FBR.