This macroscopic understanding of mechanical stresses and strains within the fracture zone will be complemented by an analysis of the regain of tissue pre-tensioning. They will unravel the principles of regaining pre-tension in healing bone using X-ray diffraction, in situ collagen visualisation and nanoCT strategies.

Healing processes involve dynamic microenvironments, where local and temporal control of physicochemical cues orchestrate tissue self-organization. Hydrogels can mimic such microenvironments and allow spatial control of stiffness, degradability and biomolecule presentation. We thus aim to modulate cellular processes, tissue organization and crosstalk with immune molecules and thereby better understand regeneration and pathological alterations.

The team aims to understand how mechanical loading drives vascular proliferation and callus organisation during early bone healing in an age dependent manner. It will focus on key cell-cell interactions in early cell-matrix self-assembly and on forces exerted by either blood flow or extrinsic loading and their consequences for functional vascularisation and bone marrow reconstitution.

The team will explore how stromal cells that surround nascent vessels guide sprout formation and vascular patterning through their own structural organisation, through the mechanical communication with vessel-resident endothelial cells and through the secretion of extracellular matrix.