Themed collection Recent Review Articles

Bioelectronic platforms can be used for electrophysiology, monitoring and stimulating specific cellular functions.

Stimuli triggered drug delivery systems enable controlled release of drugs at the optimal space and time, thus achieving optimal therapeutic effects.

This article highlights recent signal amplification techniques for enhancing the detection sensitivity of colorimetric lateral flow assay.

Glyco(mimetic)-coated fullerenes and nanodiamonds are playing a decisive role in the investigation of the lectin–enzyme crosstalk behaviours elicited by (hetero)multivalency.

Bioactive glasses have long been investigated in mineralized tissue regeneration, but recently their potential applications in soft tissue repair, and in particular wound healing, have demonstrated great promise.

Recent advancements in the design of complementary infrared (IR) fluorescence imaging systems and IR-emitting contrast agents are highlighted. The ability to maximize the full performance of any IR imaging platform relies on the thorough understanding of the requirements of the imaging system and physical characteristics of the complementary contrast agents.

Stimuli-responsive supramolecular nano-systems (SRNS) have been a trending interdisciplinary research area due to the responsiveness upon appropriate stimuli, which makes SRNS very attractive in multiple fields where precise control is vital.

The applications of nanoparticulate drug delivery have received abundant interest in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Due to the chemical similarity to natural calcified tissues (bones and teeth) of mammals, calcium orthophosphates (abbreviated as CaPO₄) appear to be good biomaterials for creation of artificial bone grafts.

The interconnecting roles of phosphates in bone mineral formation.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of biomechanical studies on biomaterial degradation and co-cultured cells as well as valuable biomechanical ideas on how to design or optimize cell biomaterial co-culture system.

Recent developments of photoelectrochemical biosensors for food analysis are summarized and the future prospects in this field are discussed.

Misfolded protein aggregates formed by the same (homologous) or different (heterologous/cross) sequences are the pathological hallmarks of many protein misfolding diseases (PMDs) including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

The development of nanomaterial-based CL detection strategies and their applications in bioanalysis are reviewed. It highlights recent advances and organizes them into three sections: sensing platform, signal probe, and applications in homogeneous systems.

Topographical patterning has recently attracted lots of attention in regulating cell fate, understanding the mechanism of cell–microenvironment interactions, and solving the great issues of regenerative medicine.

The discovery of novel methods to fabricate optimal scaffolds that mimic both mechanical and functional properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) has always been the “holy grail” in tissue engineering.

The assembly of silk fibroin and graphene-based nanomaterials would present fantastic properties and functions via optimizing the interaction between each other, and can be processed into various formats to tailor specific biomedical applications.

Organic nanoparticles obtained from fluorophores with aggregation-caused quenching and aggregation-induced emission features for noninvasive long-term bioimaging are summarized and highlighted.

This review highlights the most recent progress in gelation strategies of biomedical supramolecular and dynamic covalent crosslinking hydrogels and their applications for enhancing cell retention and cartilage regeneration.

In this review, we have summarised the biogenesis, biological significance, isolation and detection technologies of four widely known circulating biomarkers namely circulating tumour cells, circulating tumor specific DNA, microRNA, and exosomes.

Solid-state electrochemical sensors are developing as a new platform for liquid biopsy, combining detection and analysis of nucleic acids with isothermal nucleic acid amplification reactions.

Ratiometric electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assays have been widely applied in biosensing because of eliminated outside interferences and improved reliability in detection.

Polymer nanomaterials in various shapes and sizes can be engineered to present nucleic acids and function as immune adjuvant.

A set of unique properties including biodegradability, intrinsic photoluminescence, and mesoporous structure allows porous silicon nanoparticles to address current challenges of translational nanomedicine, especially in biomedical imaging.

Biomaterial–tight junction (TJ) interactions: analyses of the TJ structure and natural modulation, interaction mechanism, potential impact and measuring methods.

Atomically thin nanomaterials that are wrinkled or crumpled represent a unique paradigm for interfacing with biological systems due to their mechanical flexibility, exceptional interfacial area, and ease of chemical functionalization.

Injectable, in situ-forming hydrogels can improve cell delivery in tissue engineering applications by facilitating minimally invasive delivery to irregular defect sites and improving cell retention and survival.

This review takes an overview of the synthetic strategies, structural diversity and emerging bio-related applications of cyclodextrin-based metal–organic frameworks (CD-MOFs).

Layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanostructures and related nanocomposites have attracted significant interest in biomedical applications including cancer therapy, bioimaging and antibacterial treatment.

This review summarizes the synthetic methods and addresses current applications and future perspectives of graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots in the biomedical field.

The applications of silicate bioceramics in soft tissue regeneration and tumor therapy

Due to its capability to self-assemble in self-supporting hydrogels (HG) under physiological conditions, Fmoc-FF is one of the most studied ultra-short peptide. This feature pushed towards the development of novel Fmoc-FF multicomponent systems.

Small intestinal submucosa (SIS) has attracted much attention in tissue repair because it can provide plentiful bioactive factors and a biomimetic three-dimensional microenvironment to induce desired cellular functions.

ROS-responsive biomaterials alleviate the oxidative stress in tissue microenvironments, promoting tissue regeneration and disease therapy.

Recent progress in preparation, characterization and properties of different kinds of intrinsic self-healing elastomers is summarized in this review article.

Many theranostic nanoparticles have been tailored for high-efficiency diagnostic or therapeutic agents or applied as carriers and might provide new possibilities for brain tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Electrospun nanofibrous membranes enjoy numerous factors which benefit them to be used as potential candidates in microfluidic based biosensing platforms.

Additively manufactured (AM, =3D printed) porous metallic biomaterials with topologically ordered unit cells have created a lot of excitement and are currently receiving a lot of attention given their great potential for improving bone tissue regeneration and preventing implant-associated infections.

Ischaemic stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, without any long-term effective treatments targeted at regeneration. This has led to developments of novel, biomaterial-based strategies using self-assembling peptide hydrogels.

The recent advances in the design of injectable hydrogels for stem cell delivery, especially for in vivo applications, are overviewed in this review.

Over the past few years, nanomaterial-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection has emerged as a new exciting field in which theoretical and experimental studies of the structure and function of nanomaterials have become a focus.

This review presents an overview of the synthesis strategies and electrochemical performance of recently developed nanomaterials for the Hg²⁺ assay.

Hybrid gold nanoparticles for biomedical applications are reviewed in the context of a novel classification framework and illustrated by recent examples.

In this Review, we focus on catalytic antioxidant study based on transition metal complexes, organoselenium compounds, supramolecules and protein scaffolds.

We highlight the recent advances in the fabrication and biomedical application of amphiphilic hydrogels.

Immobilizable probes represent a valuable trend.

This review systematically summarizes for the first time the recent progress on hydrogels containing salecan polysaccharides.

A comprehensive overview of the development of stimuli-responsive TMDC-based nanoplatforms for “smart” cancer therapy is presented to demonstrate a more intelligent and better controllable therapeutic strategy.

Exosomes as drug vehicles have attracted increasing attention due to their ability of shuttling proteins, lipids and genes among cells and natural affinity to target cells.

Porous organic frameworks (POFs) are promising candidates for bio-related applications. This review highlights the recent progress in POF-based bioapplications, including drug delivery, bioimaging, biosensing, therapeutics, and artificial shells. These encouraging performances suggest that POFs used for bioapplications deserve more attention in the future.

Regulating protein adsorption and cell response by dynamic biomaterial functions.

This review comprehensively discussed the recent progress in the development of NIR fluorescent probes for amyloid-β imaging in vivo.

Light-responsive liposomes are considered nowadays as one of the most promising nanoparticulate systems for the delivery and release of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in a spatio-temporal manner.

Gene therapy as a strategy for disease treatment requires safe and efficient gene delivery systems that encapsulate nucleic acids and deliver them to effective sites in the cell.

This review highlights recent progress in random and block copolymers containing sugar and other biocompounds, including their design, synthesis, properties and selected applications.

MicroRNAs are small regulatory noncoding RNAs that regulate various biological processes. Herein, we will present the development of the strategies for intracellular miRNAs delivery, and specially focus on the rational designed routes, their mechanisms of action, as well as potential therapeutics used in the host cells or in vivo studies.

The size-effect, fabrication methods and biomedical applications of heparin-based and heparin-inspired hydrogels are reviewed.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease characterized by the progressive deterioration of articular cartilage, synovial inflammation and changes in periarticular and subchondral bone, being a leading cause of disability.

We highlight the recent developments in functional nanomaterials with unique enzyme-like characteristics for sensing applications.

This paper reviews five different types of hybrid lipid–nanoparticle complexes (HLNC) with potential applications in biomedical research.

This article highlights the properties of stimuli-responsive bio-based polymeric systems and their main intelligent applications.

This review summarized recent progress in skin-inspired electronic devices and their applications in human health monitoring and therapy systems.

Mechanical determination of particle–cell interactions and the associated biomedical applications.

Smart bioelectronics fabricated from nanocarbons have the potential to enable seamless integration with electrogenic cells and tissues.

Probing and facilitating microbial extracellular electron transfer through nanotechnology enabled platforms are transforming bioenergetic, bioelectronic, and other related research areas.

The protein corona is a concept central to a range of disciplines exploiting the bio–nano interface.

This review focusses on the rational design of materials (from polymers to hydrogel materials) to achieve successful local delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids.

Biodegradable polyester unimolecular systems are the future emerging materials for therapeutic applications.

Osteochondral tissue engineering has become a promising strategy for repairing focal chondral lesions and early osteoarthritis (OA), which account for progressive joint pain and disability in millions of people worldwide. This review helps in providing a more comprehensive and systematic overview of utilizing injectable hydrogels for osteochondral repair.

Noble metal nanostructure-decorated MoS₂ nanocomposites have been used in sensors, catalysts, antibacterial materials and batteries due to their excellent properties.