Themed collection Biomaterials Science Recent Review Articles, 2024

Wired electrodes for nervous system stimulation have inherent limitations. Electrostimulation using unwired bipolar electrodes offers a new paradigm to drive growth and repair of nervous tissue.  It also opens a wide field for innovation of electrode materials and protocols.

Nanotechnology has shown great promise for researchers to develop efficient nanocarriers for better therapy, imaging, and sustained release of drugs.

Hydrophilic polymers are essential components in biomaterials science. Recent research has highlighted the use of poly(ylides) as charge-neutral, hydrophilic polymers, advocating for their classification as a standalone class of polymers.

Cardiac deposition of amyloid transthyretin (ATTR) can be lethal. Radioactive bone tracers like Tc-labeled diphosphonates (yellow) are taken up by ATTR fibrils (gray). Acidic residue arrays (red) can bind calcium (blue) that can bind tracers.

The use of nanoparticles for identifying and suppressing telomerase presents promising opportunities for anticancer strategies, particularly in relation to circadian regulation.

Biological liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) provides novel insights for the assembly of biomaterials with tailored structure and intrinsic functionality.

The applications of renal-targeting natural polymers and polymer-delivered natural drugs for the treatment of lethal acute kidney injury are summarized.

Bone defects are often difficult to treat due to their complexity and specificity, and therefore pose a serious threat to human life and health.

Bacterial infection-related diseases continue to pose a significant challenge to global human health. Single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) have shown promissing potential as novel antibacterial agents for the future.

This paper summarizes the different forces and forms of self-assembly, studies on the active components of medicinal and edible homologous plants and their advantages in disease application.

Carrier-free self-assembly has emerged as a promising therapeutic means for drug delivery. This review systematically introduces the modes and molecular mechanisms of natural drug self-assembly, and provides an outlook on future research directions.

This review highlights the significance of magnetic nanoparticles for use in the biomedical field by introducing their classical characteristics, species, and applications for magnetic resonance imaging as well as multi-modal imaging.

This review is focused on using natural products for cancer therapy by inducing pyroptosis-related signaling pathways. Natural product-based compounds can also be combined with other antitumor therapies for a synergistic effect.

Due to the importance of electrophysiology, this review outlines the common electrophysiological evaluation methods and summarizes the recent progress of treatment in spinal cord injury with electrophysiological improvement as a clue.

The unique microstructure of Nacre inspires the fabrication of biomimetic composites with enhanced mechanical properties and biocompatibility to address the limitations of current bone implants.

Nanocomposite hydrogels offer a promising approach to treating diabetic wounds. Key findings include enhanced mechanical properties, antibacterial effects, and the ability to regulate the wound microenvironment.

Different types of lipid-based nanocarriers in management of rheumatoid arthritis.

Current treatments cannot recapitulate the zonal stratification of native AC. Thus, advanced TE strategies have been explored to bestow zonal cues on engineered cartilage to improve its quality, the progress of which is the subject of this review.

Nanoparticle battle for the control of the immune tumor microenvironment.

The research progress of MOF composites formed by different metal ions in the treatment of osteoporosis is reviewed and categorized by MOF types.

This review describes in situ modification of MSNs and how this effects their material properties. It highlights their application in theranostics, oncology, and regenerative medicine field, concluding with future challenges for clinical use.

The development of new multi-responsive injectable hydrogels with cascades or even synergistic effects will be of great significance in the field of precision medicine.

Smart self-defensive antibacterial coatings that respond to internal bacteria triggers are a powerful and promising tool in the fight against medical device-related bacterial infections.

Cancer immunotherapy involves a cutting-edge method that utilizes the immune system to detect and eliminate cancer cells.

The recent advancements in the combination of AQ4N nanocomposites with chemotherapeutic drugs, radiotherapy, phototherapy, starvation, sonodynamic therapy and immunotherapy have been reviewed.

Atomically dispersed metal catalysts can simulate the activity of various antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, CAT, and GPx, and are used to treat different diseases related to oxidative stress.

In recent years, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) has emerged as a versatile polymer with a wide range of applications across various fields.

This review discusses the application of microneedle technology in biomedical detection, emphasizing the advantages of painless and minimally invasive testing, and points out the future prospects in healthcare.

Nanoparticles have been widely developed for immune regulation. This review summarizes the effects of inorganic/organic nanoparticles, and composite nanoparticles on immune system diseases.

Key aspects of an ideal lumbar interbody cage design include stability, porosity, pore size, and surface topography, all achieved through specific material choices and geometry to mimic native bone and enhance biological integration.

Neurodegenerative diseases are devastating diseases that severely affect the health of people all over the world.

Peptide-based supramolecular hydrogels demonstrate significant applications in chemotherapy, photothermal and photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, as well as antibacterial and anti-inflammatory treatments.

The possible antimicrobial mechanism of nanomaterials.

Ion doping, drug loading, functionalization, coating and topographical modification allow to tailor the properties of bioactive glass and glass-ceramics and modulate the interaction of these bioceramics with human and bacterial cells.

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have great potential in biomedical applications such as biomolecular detection, cell imaging, tumor diagnosis and deep tissue imaging.

Photothermal nanogels exhibit good colloidal stability and high drug loading capacity, and can selectively accumulate at the tumor site through active or passive targeting, and then synergize with photothermal therapy to kill the tumor.

The principle and application of nanozymes in the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

In embedded extrusion 3D bioprinting, a temporary matrix preserves a paste-like filament ejecting from a narrow nozzle.

The combination of chemodynamic therapy (CDT) with immunotherapy can result in enhanced therapeutic effects of cancers. The recent progresses and challenges concerning nanomedicine for combination of CDT and immunotherapy are summarized and discussed.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a dual role in pathology and therapy. ROS-responsive nanoscale drug carriers offer a promising strategy to leverage elevated ROS levels in diseased tissues for targeted, enhanced therapeutic delivery and efficacy.

The 3D printing technologies, structures and materials suitable for microrobots are elaborately discussed. The current progress, challenges and potential solutions of 3D printing microrobots in biomedical applications are discussed.

Assembled structures of Au NCs in combination with different metal agents are intricately arranged through chemical forces, it resulted a diverse array of multifunctional Au NCs assemblies and being utilized in different biological applications.

Biophysical techniques involved in the formulation of mRNA products.

Splittable systems divide active molecules into inactive parts that recombine under specific conditions for versatile biomedical uses. Applications include immunotherapy, gene editing, prodrug activation, synthetic biology, and biosensing.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as a reactive oxygen species produced by cellular metabolism can be used in antitumor therapy.

The innovative and efficacious application of nanotechnology for remodeling the glioblastoma (GBM) tumor microenvironment (TME) exhibits promising potential as a therapeutic avenue for GBM treatment.

Bibliometric analysis of the application of inorganic nanomaterials to autoimmune diseases is used to characterize current research trends and to visualize past and emerging trends in this field in the past 15 years.

Biomaterials as a new option has revolutionized the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss.

Traditional methods of hydrogen administration are less efficient; novel photocatalytic and sonocatalytic materials with targeted delivery and stimuli-reactive hydrogen release can improve the therapeutic effect.

Innervation is a critical step in functional skin repair. Current study highlights the regenerative approaches to restore skin sensation after trauma.

Stimuli-responsive polymer-based nanosystems have gained significant attention for cardiovascular disease theranostics. This review summarizes various stimuli-responsive nanosystems used for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases.

Overview of the methodologies and applications of DNA self-assembly, including the conventional strategy based on Watson–Crick base-pairing, hybrid assembly mediated by functional elements and their applications in biological fields.

Hydrogels, as an emerging biomaterial, have found extensive use in the healing of wounds due to their distinctive physicochemical structure and functional properties.

Illustrative representation of applications of fluorescence imaging-guided surgery in different types of cancers by utilizing different fluorescent probes.

Herein, we reviewed the recent development in the use of MOF materials as a platform for the treatment of lung cancer.

The field of biomaterials is a continuously evolving interdisciplinary field encompassing biological sciences, materials sciences, chemical sciences, and physical sciences with a multitude of applications realized every year.

This review systematically summarizes the cutting-edge methods for preparing engineered exosomes through cell engineering and exosome engineering, as well as the latest advancements of engineered exosomes in therapeutic applications.

Self-assembled models offer advantages in studying neural development, but standardisation, control, and scalability are limited. Engineering hydrogel-based models to mimic native tissue structures shows promise in overcoming these challenges.

This review highlights the advances of functional extracellular nanovesicles in CRISPR delivery, including their cellular entry pathways, functionalization techniques, and the challenges and strategies pivotal for clinical translation.

Keloid is a type of scar formed by the overexpression of extracellular matrix substances from fibroblasts following inflammation after trauma.

This article reviews the latest progress in the mechanism and treatment of different gases and related gas releasing materials in diabetic wound repair.

4D hydrogels mimic anisotropic tissue composition due to non-uniform distribution of internal stresses within them. Herein, we discuss the strategies used to fabricate programmable hydrogels in response to environmental cues for biomedical applications.

Polylysine, renowned for its outstanding antibacterial efficacy, has shown significant promise in the biomedical field. This review presents various preparation methods and recent advances in polylysine-containing hydrogels to promote wound healing.

The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is pivotal in orchestrating the immune response induced by most of the nanoparticle adjuvants.

Non-viral vector-based CRISPR-Cas-mediated immunoengineering in tumor cells and immune cells for cancer immunotherapy.

Developing safe and effective delivery strategies for localizing messenger RNA (mRNA) payloads to the spleen is an important goal in the field of genetic medicine.

GI transporter/receptor-mediated nanosized drug delivery systems could improve oral absorption and further target organs or diseases for effective therapeutic outcomes.

Protein–polymer bioconjugation, immobilization, and encapsulation exhibit a unique array of properties and can be tuned to produce desired effects for specific biomaterial applications.