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Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2022) | Viewed by 16897

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Joaquim Miguel Oliveira

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Guest Editor

1. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs—Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, Barco, 4805-017 Guimarães, Portugal
2. ICVS/3B’s–PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, 4805-017 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: nanobiomaterials; nanomedicine; theranostics; tissue engineering; bio 3D printing; 3D in vitro tissue models of disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Viviana Pinto Ribeiro

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Guest Editor

1. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics of University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Avepark - Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017 Barco Guimarães, Portugal
2. ICVS/3B’s - PT Government Associate Laboratory, 4805-017 Braga/Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: biomaterials; silk fibroin; osteochondral; bone; cartilage; tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; 3D in vitro modeling; cancer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Rui L. Reis

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Guest Editor

1. 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs—Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, Barco, 4805-017 Guimarães, Portugal
2. ICVS/3B’s–PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, 4805-017 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; biomaterials; biomimetics; biodegradable materials; 3D in vitro models; cancer modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) is progressively less limited to the use of simple biomaterials capable of integrating the host tissue to promote the healing and regenerative process while it degrades. The convergence of regenerative medicine with other emerging fields such as nanotechnology, cell and molecular therapy, and precision medicine, can allow us to envision the development of innovative patient-specific approaches with new insights to reverse engineering, imaging acquisition, and scaffold design and biofabrication. Innovative solutions combining natural and/or synthetic biopolymers and emerging engineering strategies seem to be attractive and closer to precisely emulating the biological and mechanical diversity of in vivo tissues. Nanobiomaterials incorporating nanoparticles, peptides, and multimodal nanoprobes are being proposed for targeting specific cells and intracellular drug /gene delivery using live imaging. Aiming to explore these concepts, this Special Issue will focus on the biopolymer-based materials currently used for biomedical applications in TERM, the emerging scaffolding strategies and manufacturing techniques, as well as nanotools for biopolymer functionalization, material–cell interactions, and its biological performance assessment.

We kindly invite you to submit a manuscript(s) for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Submissions can cover the following topics (but are not limited to them):

- Natural-based polymers for biomedical applications;

- Nanobiomaterials for controlled and targeted drug/gene delivery;

- Hydrogels for drug and cell delivery and imaging;

- Polysaccharides and proteins for TERM;

- Functionalization of biopolymers;

- Synthetic polymers for TERM;

- Biopolymers for TE scaffolding;

- Processing of biopolymers;

- Bioinks for Bio 3d printing;

- Biopolymer–cell interactions and in vivo biological performance assessment.

Prof. Dr. Joaquim Miguel Oliveira
Dr. Viviana P. Ribeiro
Prof. Dr. Rui L. Reis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Biopolymers
Tissue engineering
Regenerative medicine
Nanotechnology
Precision medicine
Reverse engineering
Imaging
Nanobiomaterials
Drug delivery
Scaffolding strategies

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

3 pages, 191 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue: Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering

by Joaquim M. Oliveira, Viviana P. Ribeiro and Rui L. Reis

Materials 2022, 15(8), 2942; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15082942 - 18 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1648

Abstract

In the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM), the use of traditional biomaterials capable of integrating the host tissue to promote the healing and regenerative process while it degrades has become less and less a focus of inspiration [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

14 pages, 5448 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biofabrication of a Low Modulus Bioelectroprobe for Neurons to Grow Into

by Zhiyan Hao, Sen Wang, Kun Zhang, Jiajia Zhou, Dichen Li, Jiankang He, Lin Gao and Ling Wang

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4718; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164718 - 21 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1876

Abstract

Implantable nerve electrodes, as a bridge between the brain and external devices, have been widely used in areas such as brain function exploration, neurological disease treatment and human–computer interaction. However, the mechanical properties mismatch between the electrode material and the brain tissue seriously affects the stability of electrode signal acquisition and the effectiveness of long-term service in vivo. In this study, a modified neuroelectrode was developed with conductive biomaterials. The electrode has good biocompatibility and a gradient microstructure suitable for cell growth. Compared with metal electrodes, bioelectrodes not only greatly reduced the elastic modulus (<10 kpa) but also increased the conductivity of the electrode by 200 times. Through acute electrophysiological analysis and a 12-week chronic in vivo experiment, the bioelectrode clearly recorded the rat’s brain electrical signals, effectively avoided the generation of glial scars and induced neurons to move closer to the electrode. The new conductive biomaterial electrodes developed in this research make long-term implantation of cortical nerve electrodes possible. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

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17 pages, 3156 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development and Characterization of High Efficacy Cell-Penetrating Peptide via Modulation of the Histidine and Arginine Ratio for Gene Therapy

by Yu Liu, Huan-Huan Wan, Duo-Mei Tian, Xiao-Jun Xu, Chang-Long Bi, Xiao-Yong Zhan, Bi-Hui Huang, Yun-Sheng Xu and Le-Ping Yan

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4674; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164674 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2187

Abstract

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), as non-viral gene delivery vectors, are considered with lower immunogenic response, and safer and higher gene capacity than viral systems. In our previous study, a CPP peptide called RALA (arginine rich) presented desirable transfection efficacy and owns a potential clinic use. It is believed that histidine could enhance the endosome escaping ability of CPPs, yet RALA peptide contains only one histidine in each chain. In order to develop novel superior CPPs, by using RALA as a model, we designed a series of peptides named HALA (increased histidine ratio). Both plasmid DNA (pDNA) and siRNA transfection results on three cell lines revealed that the transfection efficacy is better when histidine replacements were on the C-terminal instead of on the N-terminal, and two histidine replacements are superior to three. By investigating the mechanism of endocytosis of the pDNA nanocomplexes, we discovered that there were multiple pathways that led to the process and caveolae played the main role. During the screening, we discovered a novel peptide-HALA2 of high cellular transfection efficacy, which may act as an exciting gene delivery vector for gene therapy. Our findings also bring new insights on the development of novel robust CPPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

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11 pages, 3183 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Synthesis and Evaluation of RGD−Conjugated Chitosan Gel as Daily Supplement for Body Weight Control

by Wei-Yao Chen, Yu-Ting Chen, Cherng-Jyh Ke, Ching-Yun Chen and Feng-Huei Lin

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4467; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164467 - 10 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1762

Abstract

(1) Background: Obesity is one of the most widespread chronic diseases and increases the risk of several other chronic diseases, especially type 2 diabetes. (2) Methods: Endobarrier is a new medical device what is worn in the small intestines for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity. However, given the invasive and other adverse effects of the Endobarrier, we propose the use of RGD peptide conjugated with chitosan (RC) as an alternative. (3) Results: The FTIR and NMR spectrum showed RGD peptide was successfully conjugated on chitosan and RGD−CT is retained in the small intestine even after digestion. In vitro of wst-1 and live and dead staining studies show that the RGD−CT gel is highly biocompatible and non-toxic. Rats treated with the RGD−CT gel for a short term showed significant decrease change more than 30% in body weight, while the blood and hematic biometrics were within normal values. (4) Conclusions: The RGD−CT gel is safe, suitable for the short-term, reducing visceral fat rate health food to control weight. In the future, it is expected to develop a safe, long-term effective, flexibility of use and low-side-effect anti-obesity therapy in the era of precision medicine by further modification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

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10 pages, 5609 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In Vitro Analysis of Wearing of Hip Joint Prostheses Composed of Different Contact Materials

by Jian Su, Jian-Jun Wang, Shi-Tong Yan, Min Zhang, Hui-Zhi Wang, Ning-Ze Zhang, Yi-Chao Luan and Cheng-Kung Cheng

Materials 2021, 14(14), 3805; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14143805 - 07 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2665

Abstract

Cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy (CoCrMo) and ceramic are the two most common materials for the femoral head in hip joint prostheses, and the acetabular liner is typically made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), highly cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), or highly cross-linked polyethylene blended with Vitamin E (VEXLPE). The selection of suitable materials should consider both wear performance and cost-effectiveness. This study compared the wear rate between different friction pairs using a hip joint simulator and then recommended a suitable prosthesis based on the corresponding processing technology and cost. All wear simulations were performed in accordance with ISO 14242, using the same hip joint simulator and same test conditions. This study found that when using the same material for the femoral head, the XLPE and VEXLPE liners had a lower wear rate than the UHMWPE liners, and the wear rate of the XLPE liners increased after blending with Vitamin E (VEXLPE). There was no significant difference in the wear rate of XLPE when using a CoCrMo or ceramic head. Considering the wear rate and cost-effectiveness, a CoCrMo femoral head with an accompanying XLPE liner is recommended as the more suitable combination for hip prostheses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

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15 pages, 2240 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interferon α2–Thymosin α1 Fusion Protein (IFNα2–Tα1): A Genetically Engineered Fusion Protein with Enhanced Anticancer and Antiviral Effect

by Muhammad Shahbaz Aslam, Syed Zohaib Javaid Zaidi, Rabail Hassan Toor, Iram Gull, Muhammad Mudassir Iqbal, Zaigham Abbas, Imran Tipu, Aftab Ahmed, Muhammad Amin Athar, Christian Harito and Sammer-ul Hassan

Materials 2021, 14(12), 3318; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14123318 - 15 Jun 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2310

Abstract

Human interferon α2 (IFNα2) and thymosin α1 (Tα1) are therapeutic proteins used for the treatment of viral infections and different types of cancer. Both IFNα2 and Tα1 show a synergic effect in their activities when used in combination. Furthermore, the therapeutic fusion proteins produced through the genetic fusion of two genes can exhibit several therapeutic functions in one molecule. In this study, we determined the anticancer and antiviral effect of human interferon α2–thymosin α1 fusion protein (IFNα2–Tα1) produced in our laboratory for the first time. The cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of IFNα2–Tα1 was evaluated in HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The in vitro assays confirmed that IFNα2–Tα1 inhibited the growth of cells more effectively than IFNα2 alone and showed an elevated genotoxic effect. The expression of proapoptotic genes was also significantly enhanced in IFNα2–Tα1-treated cells compared to IFNα2-treated cells. Furthermore, the HCV RNA level was significantly reduced in IFNα2–Tα1-treated HCV-infected Huh7 cells compared to IFNα2-treated cells. The quantitative PCR analysis showed that the expression of various genes, the products of which inhibit HCV replication, was significantly enhanced in IFNα2–Tα1-treated cells compared to IFNα2-treated cells. Our findings demonstrate that IFNα2–Tα1 is more effective than single IFNα2 as an anticancer and antiviral agent. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

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11 pages, 10393 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pluronic F-127/Silk Fibroin for Enhanced Mechanical Property and Sustained Release Drug for Tissue Engineering Biomaterial

by Jina Youn, Joo Hee Choi, Sumi Lee, Seong Won Lee, Byung Kwan Moon, Jeong Eun Song and Gilson Khang

Materials 2021, 14(5), 1287; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14051287 - 08 Mar 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3201

Abstract

Herein, an injectable thermosensitive hydrogel was developed for a drug and cellular delivery system. The composite was prepared by facile physical mixing of pluronic F-127 (PF) and silk fibroin (SF) in an aqueous solution. The chemical structure, transparency, viscosity, injectability, degradation kinetic, cumulative release of dexamethasone (Dex), a type of corticosteroid drug, and size distribution of the fabricated hydrogels were characterized. Cytotoxicity of the hydrogels was also studied to verify the biocompatibility of the hydrogels. The addition of a proper amount of SF to PF not only improved the mechanical strength but also decreased the degradation rate which improved the fast rate release of hydrophobic drugs. The cytotoxicity of the hydrogel decreased when SF was added to PF in a proper amount. Overall, the results confirm that the composite of PF and SF can be a promising cell and drug delivery system for future application in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer-Based Materials for Biomedical Engineering)

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