The field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine has seen significant advancements with the introduction of immunomodulatory strategies, particularly in the context of repairing and rehabilitating anisotropic tissues such as nerves, tendons, blood vessels, bones, and the heart. These strategies focus on modulating immune cell responses by creating a conducive microenvironment that maintains immune homeostasis, which is crucial for tissue development and regeneration. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of bioactive hydrogels as promising immunomodulatory biomaterials due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and extracellular matrix-like structure. These hydrogels possess tunable mechanical properties and suitable diffusion characteristics, making them ideal candidates for tissue repair. Despite these advancements, there remains a need to optimize the physicochemical and bio-functional properties of these hydrogels and to better understand their interactions with immune cells such as lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes/macrophages. Addressing these gaps could lead to the development of high-performance immune-instructive hydrogels.
This research topic aims to explore the frontier of immunomodulatory bioactive hydrogels and their interactions with immune cells. The primary objective is to employ principles of rational design to enhance the basic understanding of these hydrogels in the context of repairing and rehabilitating anisotropic tissues. Key questions include how to optimize the physical, chemical, and bio-functional properties of hydrogels to improve their immunomodulatory capabilities and how these properties influence immune cell behavior and tissue repair processes.
To gather further insights in the development and application of immunomodulatory bioactive hydrogels, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Novel immune cell-mediated hydrogels for tissue repair and rehabilitation
- Immunomodulation via mechanosensing and mechanotransduction based on hydrogels
- Application of immune-instructive hydrogels in flexible electronic devices for in vivo tissue rehabilitation
- Toxicology evaluation of immune-instructive hydrogels
- The underlying mechanisms and interactions between immune-instructive hydrogels and cells/tissues/organs.
Keywords: bioactive hydrogels, immunomodulatory, tissue repair, rehabilitation, materiobiology
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
