Hybrid Biomaterials and Advanced Strategies for Customizable Cell Microenvironments

The field of biomaterials engineering is rapidly evolving, driven by an urgent need to recreate native cell microenvironments in vitro. These cellular niches are intricately composed of interdependent structural and biochemical components and are essential for regulating cellular fate, signaling, and function. Although novel biomaterials and advanced biofabrication techniques provide unparalleled opportunities to replicate this complexity, achieving physiologically relevant microenvironments depends upon the thoughtful selection and integration of both multifaceted materials and varied cell types. Despite robust advances, the assembly of coherent, functional constructs that can respond dynamically to biological stimuli and replicate tissue-like organization remains a significant hurdle.

A major challenge lies in the integration of multiple materials and cell types within unified systems, as multimaterial constructs frequently suffer from mismatched mechanical or biochemical properties. Furthermore, different cell types exhibit unique requirements for adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, and interaction with their microenvironment, complicating efforts to create holistic models. Recent progress in gradient scaffolds, hybrid hydrogels and nanofibers, advanced bioprinting, and dynamic co-culture systems has begun to address these obstacles. Innovative bioreactors and microfluidic devices are now unraveling key mechanotransduction mechanisms, offering a clearer path toward designing tailorable, predictive in vitro models. However, a comprehensive framework that harmoniously unites materials and cell interactions for robust biological outcomes is still needed.

This Research Topic aims to advance the rational design and integration of hybrid biomaterials to construct customizable cell microenvironments. By drawing together work on modular extracellular matrix mimics, spatially controlled fiber and scaffold systems, and models integrating multiple cell or bacterial populations, this topic seeks to elucidate how material architecture can be tuned to direct functional cellular outcomes. The objective is to foster interdisciplinary research that bridges materials science, cell biology, and tissue engineering, with particular emphasis on regenerative medicine and infection biology.

To gather further insights into engineered microenvironments with hybrid biomaterials, we welcome articles that explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

o Design of extracellular matrix-inspired materials with tunable biochemical and mechanical cues
o Fabrication of fiber-based and multimaterial scaffolds for hierarchical microenvironment structuring
o Strategies for integrating multiple cell types or microbial interactions in vitro
o Bioreactors and microfluidic systems for dynamic and mechanotransductive culture conditions
o Validation of engineered microenvironments through functional and predictive biological assays
o Computational models of predictive responses