Guicai Li1*
Hongbo Zhang2,3*- 1Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, NMPA Key Lab for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Nantong University, Nantong, China
- 2Pharmaceutical Sciences Laboratory, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
- 3Turku Bioscience Center, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
Editorial on the Research Topic
Functional and Smart Biomaterials: Development and Application in Regenerative Medicine
The development of functional and smart biomaterials has emerged the multidisciplinary subjects including medicine, biology, physics, chemistry and materials science, etc., and is playing important role in clinical applications, e.g., facilitating wound healing and restoring other types of biological function (Freudenberg et al., 2016; Shodeinde et al., 2020; Najjari et al., 2022). However, the performance of these biomaterials still need to be further enhanced due to the complicated interactions with components of living systems and the unpredictable responses of body to biomaterials (Kowalski et al., 2018). Thus, a good design and development of functional and smart biomaterials will be a guarantee for their future clinical applications for improving patients’ health and life. Today, with the flourishing of biomaterials and regenerative medicine, more and more researcher are joining this field to study the functional and smart biomaterials for various regenerative medicine applications. To highlight the current progress, this Research Topic aims to bring together the latest exciting achievements referring to the development and application of functional and smart biomaterials on regenerative medicine.
Here, we collected a total of 16 papers, which present a broad range of the functional and smart biomaterials design, preparation, evaluation and application for various biological systems; and summarize the current progress of functional and smart biomaterials in regenerative medicine. The papers published in the present topic are briefly introduced below.
Dong et al. highlighted and summarized the various applied polymers in osteonecrosis therapy, then discussed the development of biofunctionalized composite polymers based on the polymers combined with different bioactive substances. Finally, the application of polymers in the treatment of osteonecrosis and future outlook are summarized. This review provided a comprehensive knowledge relevant to the application of polymers in the treatment of osteonecrosis and a meaningful theoretical basis further to advance the treatment of osteonecrosis with biomedical polymer materials.
The ideal orthopedic implant should possess both osteogenic and antibacterial properties and do proper assistance to in situ inflammatory cells for anti-microbe and tissue repair. However, aseptic loosening and peri-implant infection remain problems that may lead to implant removal eventually. Titanium and its alloys are dominant material for orthopedic/dental implants due to their stable chemical properties and good biocompatibility. In the review by Lu et al., an overview of the latest strategies to endow titanium implants with bio-function and anti-infection properties were overviewed. The methods for preparing efficient surfaces were stated and the insights into the interaction between the devices and the local biological environment were offered. In the end, the challenges in terms of stability and long-term performance were put forward, new substances or surface modification methods with antibacterial and bone-promoting properties need to be explored in the development of ideal materials for bone implantation.
Shu et al. introduced the advantages of hydrogel dressings and the treatment strategies for burns, ranging from external to clinical. They then discussed the development of new hydrogel dressings for wound healing along with skin regeneration, and the functional classifications of hydrogel dressings along with their clinical value for burns. To construct different functional hydrogel dressings according to the different stages of wound healing and ensure that the appropriate therapy is administered when appropriate in the treatment of burn wounds.
Xu et al. analyzed and summarized the construction methods, with or without cells, and repair effects of single layer scaffold and multi-layer scaffold for the treatment of esophageal cancer. The multilayer complex structure of the esophagus should be considered in the repair of the full-thickness or circumferential defect of the esophagus. Besides, the source of an ingenious design and maintenance of the bionic structure and bionic function are the research direction.
Wu et al. explored a novel method for constructing porous collagen membranes via the combined application of bioskiving and sonication. Tuning the power intensity was shown to modulate fibril orientation, and the porous membrane without denatured collagen could be obtained by a 20-min sonication treatment at 90 W. The prepared collagen membrane could also be further mineralized to enhance osteogenesis. Overall, this study offered a rapid and convenient approach for fabricating porous collagen membranes.
In another study, Wu et al. developed a sensitive, specific, and biocompatible integrin αvβ3-targeted superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) for the noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of integrin αvβ3. The results established the possibility of Fe3O4-RGD serving as a feasible MRI agent for the noninvasive diagnosis of IgA nephropathy.
Li et al. investigated the osteogenic differentiation of inducedpluripotent-stem-cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (iPSC-MSCs) and bone regeneration capacities using N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)-loaded biomimetic nanofibers of hydroxyapatite/silk fibroin (HAp/SF), which demonstrated the promising potential for the use of NAC/HAp/SF for bone tissue engineering.
Zhao et al. synthesized a bioclickable mussel-derived peptide Azide-3,4-dihydroxy-Lphenylalanine (DOPA4) as a polyether ether ketone (PEEK) surface coating modifier and further combined bone morphogenetic protein two functional peptides (BMP2p) with a dibenzylcyclooctyne (DBCO) motif through bio-orthogonal reactions to obtain DOPA4@BMP2p-PEEK, which displayed excellent biocompatibility and osteogenic functions, thus offering insights to engineering surfaces of orthopedic implants.
Liu et al. reported a dual-response nano-carrier of glutathione and acid to achieve the rapid release of encapsulated drug and increase the effective drug concentration in the tumor. In this way, the nanocarrier degraded quickly, realizing the purpose of rapid drug release and efficient antitumor effects, thus showing better clinical application prospects.
Electrospinning is still the convenient and efficient method for constructing tissue engineered implants. Wang et al. prepared nanofibrous membranes with different gelatin/polycaprolactone mass ratios via electrospinning for preventing postoperative cardiac adhesion, also providing potential application for wound dressing and bone regeneration. Kong et al. developed a porous nerve decellularized matrix-chitosan (NDM-CS) scaffold with high antimicrobial activity and high biocompatibility using a one-step electrospinning method for neural tissue engineering.
Hong et al. synthesized the copolymer of 6-arm polyethylene glycol and heparin (PEG-Hep) and then immobilized it on the surface of chitosan (Chi)-modified magnesium alloy surface through electrostatic interaction, which was shown to improve the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility.
Luo et al. covalently immobilized multifunctional baicalin (BCL) onto the surface of the contact lens, thus improving the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, and antibacterial capabilities, and displaying great application potential in the surface engineering of ophthalmic medical materials.
Chen et al. proposed a simple UV-photofunctionalization strategy to improve the hemocompatibility of Ag nanoparticles, which provided a new solution idea to improve the hemocompatibility of metal nanoparticles.
Zhang et al. constructed Ag-incorporated polydopamine/tannic acid coating on titanium substrate with improved hydrophilicity, good cytocompatibility, and antibacterial effectiveness, indicating the potential for surface modification of titanium implants.
In summary, the articles collected in this Research Topic demonstrate the development and application of functional and smart biomaterials in regenerative medicine. In prospectively, the functional and smart biomaterials will continue to expand their application and significance in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
Author Contributions
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s Note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171352), Natural Key Science Research Program of Jiangsu Education Department (19KJA320006), Open Project of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine (Guizaizhongkai 202101) and Opening Project of National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University (SDGC2147).
References
Freudenberg, U., Liang, Y., Kiick, K. L., and Werner, C. (2016). Glycosaminoglycan-Based Biohybrid Hydrogels: A Sweet and Smart Choice for Multifunctional Biomaterials. Adv. Mater 28, 8861–8891. doi:10.1002/adma.201601908
Kowalski, P. S., Bhattacharya, C., Afewerki, S., and Langer, R. (2018). Smart Biomaterials: Recent Advances and Future Directions. Acs Biomaterials Sci. Eng. 4, 3809–3817. doi:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.8b00889
Najjari, A., Mehdinavaz Aghdam, R., Ebrahimi, S. A. S., Suresh, K. S., Krishnan, S., Shanthi, C., et al. (2022). Smart Piezoelectric Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine: a Review. Biomed. Tech. Berl. 67 (2), 71–88. doi:10.1515/bmt-2021-0265
Keywords: functional biomaterials, smart biomaterials, development, application, regenerative medicine
Citation: Li G and Zhang H (2022) Editorial: Functional and Smart Biomaterials: Development and Application in Regenerative Medicine. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 10:920730. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.920730
Received: 15 April 2022; Accepted: 28 April 2022;
Published: 17 May 2022.
Edited and reviewed by:
Hasan Uludag, University of Alberta, CanadaCopyright © 2022 Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Guicai Li, gcli1981@ntu.edu.cn; Hongbo Zhang, hongbo.zhang@abo.fi