Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, enormous growth in nano-material technology and science has been attained in the biomedical filed. For example, nanosized hydrogels, so-called nanogels, have been reported to provide a feasible drug-delivery system that enables the efficient transfer of chemotherapeutics and short interfering RNA, and slow-release anti-bacterial peptide, growth factors and cytokines on-site. Through the functions, nanogels can inhibit tumor growth, and enhance wound-healing and blood vessel regeneration. Moreover, nanogels are also used as a scaffold for tissue engineering, including bone, cardiac and urethra tissue regeneration. In general, nanogels are highly biocompatible and biodegradable. Nanogels are also considered to be excellent scaffolds for preparing composites as a novel class of advanced materials, which comprise both nanogels and other constituents, such as polymers or inorganic nanoparticles. Thus, the development of nanogels and their effective application will play an important role in the regenerative medicine field.

This Special Issue will provide various reports on the leading edge nanogels’ synthesis and their effective application in regenerative medicine.

Dr. Kenta Yamamoto
Dr. Yuanhui Song
Guest Editors

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• nanogels
• regenerative medicine
• gel application
• medical field
• RNAi transfer
• growth factor release
• biomedical scaffolds

Title: Glucan dendrimer-nanogel mediated OC-STAMP silencing for treatment of pathogenic bone resorption
Authors: Kenta Yamamoto; Shin-Ichi Sawada; Osam Mazda; Kazunari Akiyoshi; Toshihisa Kawai
Affiliation: 1 Department of Immunology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine 2 Department of Oral Science and Translational Research, College of Dental Medicine, Nova Southeastern University 3 Department of Polymer Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University 4 Synergy Institute for Futuristic Mucosal Vaccine Research and Development, Chiba University
Abstract: Osteoclasts-stimulatory trans-membrane protein (OC-STAMP) plays a pivotal role in promotion of cell fusion event during osteoclast-differentiation (osteoclastogenesis) in the context of pathogenic bone resorption. Thus, it is plausible that the bioengineered approach that suppresses OC-STAMP expression can lead to the development of an effective treatment for inflammatory bone resorption diseases, with minimum side effects. Here, we compared two types of novel amphiphilic glucan dendrimer (GD) nanogels (with or without C12) as a carrier of short interfering RNA (siRNA) to silence OC-STAMP. The results showed that C12-GD nanogels is more efficient in the in vitro silencing of OC-STAMP than GD-nanogel, and that local injection of anti-OC-STAMP-siRNA /C12-GD nanogel complex could attenuate bone resorption induced in the mouse model of periodontitis.

Title: Nanogel Engineering for Development of Novel Immunotherapy and Regenerative medicine
Authors: Testuya Adachi
Affiliation: Department of Dental Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine