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Biomolecules
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Advances in hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications
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Advances in hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 16551

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Anuj Kumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan 38541, Korea
Interests: polymer chemistry; sustainable materials; biocomposites; biomaterials, nanocellulose, hydrogels; tissue engineering; cancer therapeutics; 3D printing/bioprinting; bioelectronics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The design of hydrogel biomaterials for engineering complex tissues and controlled or targeted drug delivery is a great challenge in the biomedical field. Biomaterials interact with biologically complex systems and have to be to engineered into functional tissues operating in a three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment or into systems delivering drugs safely and efficiently. Hydrogels are composed of a highly hydrophilic 3D network that is able to mimic some of the functional physical and chemical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and may provide a suitable 3D micro-/nano-environment, resembling that of native tissues. In the last decades, there have been tremendous advances in hydrogels production for tissue engineering and drug delivery. Nevertheless, various key challenges remain to be overcome.

The goal of this Special Issue is to describe current advances and provide future perspectives and directions for research in hydrogels to improve hydrogels properties for tissue regeneration and safe and controlled drug delivery. Therefore, this forthcoming Special Issue is devoted to articles related to advances in hydrogel research for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications that present novel ideas and concepts for the synthesis of hydrogels and their characterization.

This Special Issue will publish original review and research articles on the following and related themes: polymeric hydrogels, hybrid hydrogels, self-healing hydrogels, stimuli-responsive hydrogels, composite and nanocomposite hydrogels, 3D printing of hydrogel inks, 3D bioprinting of bioinks, biomaterials for 3D printing, hydrogels for specific tissue engineering applications, nano-reinforced hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications, hydrogels for the delivery of drugs, antibiotics, growth factors, genes, etc.

Dr. Anuj Kumar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hydrogels
  • tissue engineering
  • drug delivery
  • cancer drug delivery
  • 3D bioprinting
  • self-healing hydrogels
  • stimuli-responsive hydrogels

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 6528 KiB  
Article
Cerebellar Cells Self-Assemble into Functional Organoids on Synthetic, Chemically Crosslinked ECM-Mimicking Peptide Hydrogels
by Zbigniev Balion, Vytautas Cėpla, Nataša Svirskiene, Gytis Svirskis, Kristina Druceikaitė, Hermanas Inokaitis, Justina Rusteikaitė, Ignas Masilionis, Gintarė Stankevičienė, Tadas Jelinskas, Artūras Ulčinas, Ayan Samanta, Ramūnas Valiokas and Aistė Jekabsone
Biomolecules 2020, 10(5), 754; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10050754 - 12 May 2020
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6899
Abstract
Hydrogel-supported neural cell cultures are more in vivo-relevant compared to monolayers formed on glass or plastic substrates. However, there is a lack of synthetic microenvironment available for obtaining standardized and easily reproducible cultures characterized by tissue-mimicking cell composition, cell–cell interactions, and functional networks. [...] Read more.
Hydrogel-supported neural cell cultures are more in vivo-relevant compared to monolayers formed on glass or plastic substrates. However, there is a lack of synthetic microenvironment available for obtaining standardized and easily reproducible cultures characterized by tissue-mimicking cell composition, cell–cell interactions, and functional networks. Synthetic peptides representing the biological properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins have been reported to promote the adhesion-driven differentiation and functional maturation of neural cells. Thus, such peptides can serve as building blocks for engineering a standardized, all-synthetic environment. In this study, we have compared the effect of two chemically crosslinked hydrogel compositions on primary cerebellar cells: collagen-like peptide (CLP), and CLP with an integrin-binding motif arginine-glycine-aspartate (CLP-RGD), both conjugated to polyethylene glycol molecular templates (PEG-CLP and PEG-CLP-RGD, respectively) and fabricated as self-supporting membranes. Both compositions promoted a spontaneous organization of primary cerebellar cells into tissue-like clusters with fast-rising Ca2+ signals in soma, reflecting action potential generation. Notably, neurons on PEG-CLP-RGD had more neurites and better synaptic efficiency compared to PEG-CLP. For comparison, poly-L-lysine-coated glass and plastic surfaces did not induce formation of such spontaneously active networks. Additionally, contrary to the hydrogel membranes, glass substrates functionalized with PEG-CLP and PEG-CLP-RGD did not sufficiently support cell attachment and, subsequently, did not promote functional cluster formation. These results indicate that not only chemical composition but also the hydrogel structure and viscoelasticity are essential for bioactive signaling. The synthetic strategy based on ECM-mimicking, multifunctional blocks in registry with chemical crosslinking for obtaining tissue-like mechanical properties is promising for the development of fast and well standardized functional in vitro neural models and new regenerative therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications)
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15 pages, 5640 KiB  
Article
Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Functionalized on Hydrogel Grafted Silk Fibroin Fabrics as Efficient Composite Dressing
by Sudip Majumder, Ujjwal Ranjan Dahiya, Sunny Yadav, Pratibha Sharma, Debashree Ghosh, Gyandshwar K. Rao, Varun Rawat, Gaurav Kumar, Anuj Kumar and Chandra Mohan Srivastava
Biomolecules 2020, 10(5), 710; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10050710 - 4 May 2020
Cited by 59 | Viewed by 5316
Abstract
Recent advances in woundcare is targeted towards developing active-dressings, where multiple components are combined to provide a suitable environment for rapid healing. The aim of the present research is to study the preparation of biomimic composite wound dressings by the grafting of hydrogel [...] Read more.
Recent advances in woundcare is targeted towards developing active-dressings, where multiple components are combined to provide a suitable environment for rapid healing. The aim of the present research is to study the preparation of biomimic composite wound dressings by the grafting of hydrogel on silk fibroin fabric. The swelling ability of hydrogel grafted silk fibroin fabric was optimized by changing the initiator concentration. In order to impart antimicrobial properties, these dressing are further coated sono-chemically with zinc oxide nanoparticles. The water vapor transmission rate of the prepared samples was measured. The conformation of silk fibroin proteins after grafting with hydrogel was also confirmed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphology of the zinc oxide-coated silk fibroin fabric and hydrogel-coated silk fibroin was studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The antimicrobial activity of the zinc oxide-coated samples was studied against E coli. The cytocompatibility of the prepared dressing materials were evaluated using L929 fibroblast cells. MTT assay and phase contrast microscopic studies showed that the adherence, growth, and proliferation of the L929 fibroblast cells that were seeded on zinc oxide nanoparticles on the functionalized hydrogel-coated silk fibroin dressing was significantly higher than that of pure silk fibroin due to the highly porous, bio-mimic structure that allowed ease of passage of nutrients, growth factors, metabolites, and the exchange of gases which is beneficial for successful regeneration of damaged tissues. The expression of TNF-α and IL-2 were not significantly higher than that of control. The proposed composite dressing would be a promising material for wound dressing and regenerative medicine but in order to prove the efficacy of these materials, more in vivo experiments and clinical tests are required to be conducted in future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications)
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14 pages, 1816 KiB  
Article
Formation of Drug-Participating Catanionic Aggregates for Extended Delivery of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs from Contact Lenses
by Cesar Torres-Luna, Abdollah Koolivand, Xin Fan, Niti R. Agrawal, Naiping Hu, Yuli Zhu, Roman Domszy, Robert M. Briber, Nam Sun Wang and Arthur Yang
Biomolecules 2019, 9(10), 593; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom9100593 - 10 Oct 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3587
Abstract
This paper focuses on extending drug release duration from contact lenses by incorporating catanionic aggregates. The aggregates consist of a long-chain cationic surfactant, i.e., cetalkonium chloride (CKC), and an oppositely charged anti-inflammatory amphiphilic drug. We studied three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs with different [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on extending drug release duration from contact lenses by incorporating catanionic aggregates. The aggregates consist of a long-chain cationic surfactant, i.e., cetalkonium chloride (CKC), and an oppositely charged anti-inflammatory amphiphilic drug. We studied three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs with different octanol–water partition coefficients; diclofenac sodium (DFNa), flurbiprofen sodium (FBNa), and naproxen sodium (NPNa). Confirmation of catanionic aggregate formation in solution was determined by steady and dynamic shear rheology measurements. We observed the increased viscosity, shear thinning, and viscoelastic behavior characteristic of wormlike micelles; the rheological data are reasonably well described using a Maxwellian fluid model with a single relaxation time. In vitro release experiments demonstrated that the extension in the drug release time is dependent on the ability of a drug to form viscoelastic catanionic aggregates. Such aggregates retard the diffusive transport of drug molecules from the contact lenses. Our study revealed that the release kinetics depends on the CKC concentration and the alkyl chain length of the cationic surfactant. We demonstrated that more hydrophobic drugs such as diclofenac sodium show a more extended release than less hydrophobic drugs such as naproxen sodium. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications)
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