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Cells
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Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions
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Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2019) | Viewed by 55033

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yunqing (Kevin) Kang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, EW 36/Rm 177, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
Interests: biomaterials; tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; drug delivery; tumor model

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stem cell therapy based on biomaterials holds promising potential for the regeneration of damaged tissues. In the past decades, many efforts have been made to develop new biomaterials that can support cells to grow and differentiate into a desired cell type. However, success in translating tissue-engineered biomaterials into clinical applications is still limited. There is great interest in developing new cellular engineering techniques to modify cells and monitor cells, and also there is an unmet need to design new functional, biomimetic materials to effectively regulate cell behavior for robust tissue regeneration. As biological substitutes, biomaterials play an important role in regenerative medicine applications. Recently, 3D biomaterials have also been studied to model cancer tissues. It is well known that cells recognize and interact with biomaterials in different forms at different levels. Therefore, it is imperative to fully understand the interactions between cells (healthy cells and/or cancerous cells) and biomaterials (synthetic or biological) in space and in time. Thus, developing innovative biomaterials with new advanced functionalities is instrumental to tune cell fate in vivo.

This Special Issue focuses on several aspects of cell-biomaterials research, including cellular engineering techniques, cell–biomaterial interactions, and the development of new functional biomaterials for tissue regeneration and tumor models. We cordially invite contributions of reviews and/or original research papers reporting recent efforts in these aspects.

Dr. Yunqing (Kevin) Kang
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. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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

  • Biomaterials
  • Cell-biomaterial interaction
  • Cellular engineering
  • Stem cell fate
  • Regenerative medicine
  • Drug delivery
  • Biomaterial-based tumor model

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 172 KiB  
Editorial
Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions
by Yunqing Kang
Cells 2020, 9(9), 2094; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9092094 - 14 Sep 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2042
Abstract
Biomaterials play a key role in modern tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. They are expected to take over the function of a damaged tissue in the long term, trigger the self-healing potential of the body, and biodegrade at an appropriate rate. To meet [...] Read more.
Biomaterials play a key role in modern tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. They are expected to take over the function of a damaged tissue in the long term, trigger the self-healing potential of the body, and biodegrade at an appropriate rate. To meet these requirements, it is imperative to understand the cell-biomaterial interactions and develop new cell biotechnologies. The collection of this Special Issue brings together a number of studies portraying the underlying mechanisms of cell-biomaterial interactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

19 pages, 3211 KiB  
Article
Invertebrate Retinal Progenitors as Regenerative Models in a Microfluidic System
by Caroline D. Pena, Stephanie Zhang, Robert Majeska, Tadmiri Venkatesh and Maribel Vazquez
Cells 2019, 8(10), 1301; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8101301 - 22 Oct 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3559
Abstract
Regenerative retinal therapies have introduced progenitor cells to replace dysfunctional or injured neurons and regain visual function. While contemporary cell replacement therapies have delivered retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) within customized biomaterials to promote viability and enable transplantation, outcomes have been severely limited by [...] Read more.
Regenerative retinal therapies have introduced progenitor cells to replace dysfunctional or injured neurons and regain visual function. While contemporary cell replacement therapies have delivered retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) within customized biomaterials to promote viability and enable transplantation, outcomes have been severely limited by the misdirected and/or insufficient migration of transplanted cells. RPCs must achieve appropriate spatial and functional positioning in host retina, collectively, to restore vision, whereas movement of clustered cells differs substantially from the single cell migration studied in classical chemotaxis models. Defining how RPCs interact with each other, neighboring cell types and surrounding extracellular matrixes are critical to our understanding of retinogenesis and the development of effective, cell-based approaches to retinal replacement. The current article describes a new bio-engineering approach to investigate the migratory responses of innate collections of RPCs upon extracellular substrates by combining microfluidics with the well-established invertebrate model of Drosophila melanogaster. Experiments utilized microfluidics to investigate how the composition, size, and adhesion of RPC clusters on defined extracellular substrates affected migration to exogenous chemotactic signaling. Results demonstrated that retinal cluster size and composition influenced RPC clustering upon extracellular substrates of concanavalin (Con-A), Laminin (LM), and poly-L-lysine (PLL), and that RPC cluster size greatly altered collective migratory responses to signaling from Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF), a primary chemotactic agent in Drosophila. These results highlight the significance of examining collective cell-biomaterial interactions on bio-substrates of emerging biomaterials to aid directional migration of transplanted cells. Our approach further introduces the benefits of pairing genetically controlled models with experimentally controlled microenvironments to advance cell replacement therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)
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Review

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18 pages, 3022 KiB  
Review
Effects of Macro-/Micro-Channels on Vascularization and Immune Response of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds
by Nolan Wen, Enze Qian and Yunqing Kang
Cells 2021, 10(6), 1514; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10061514 - 16 Jun 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3419
Abstract
Although the use of porous scaffolds in tissue engineering has been relatively successful, there are still many limitations that need to be addressed, such as low vascularization, low oxygen and nutrient levels, and immune-induced inflammation. As a result, the current porous scaffolds are [...] Read more.
Although the use of porous scaffolds in tissue engineering has been relatively successful, there are still many limitations that need to be addressed, such as low vascularization, low oxygen and nutrient levels, and immune-induced inflammation. As a result, the current porous scaffolds are insufficient when treating large defects. This paper analyzed scientific research pertaining to the effects of macro-/micro-channels on the cell recruitment, vascularization, and immune response of tissue engineering scaffolds. Most of the studies contained either cell culturing experimentation or experimentation on small animals such as rats and mice. The sacrificial template method, template casting method, and 3D printing method were the most common methods in the fabrication of channeled scaffolds. Some studies combine the sacrificial and 3D printing methods to design and create their scaffold with channels. The overall results from these studies showed that the incorporation of channels within scaffolds greatly increased vascularization, reduced immune response, and was much more beneficial for cell and growth factor recruitment compared with control groups that contained no channels. More research on the effect of micro-/macro-channels on vascularization or immune response in animal models is necessary in the future in order to achieve clinical translation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)
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17 pages, 2972 KiB  
Review
Inflammation-Modulating Hydrogels for Osteoarthritis Cartilage Tissue Engineering
by Rachel H. Koh, Yinji Jin, Jisoo Kim and Nathaniel S. Hwang
Cells 2020, 9(2), 419; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9020419 - 12 Feb 2020
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 9102
Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of the joint disease associated with age, obesity, and traumatic injury. It is a disabling degenerative disease that affects synovial joints and leads to cartilage deterioration. Despite the prevalence of this disease, the understanding of OA [...] Read more.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of the joint disease associated with age, obesity, and traumatic injury. It is a disabling degenerative disease that affects synovial joints and leads to cartilage deterioration. Despite the prevalence of this disease, the understanding of OA pathophysiology is still incomplete. However, the onset and progression of OA are heavily associated with the inflammation of the joint. Therefore, studies on OA treatment have sought to intra-articularly deliver anti-inflammatory drugs, proteins, genes, or cells to locally control inflammation in OA joints. These therapeutics have been delivered alone or increasingly, in delivery vehicles for sustained release. The use of hydrogels in OA treatment can extend beyond the delivery of anti-inflammatory components to have inherent immunomodulatory function via regulating immune cell polarization and activity. Currently, such immunomodulatory biomaterials are being developed for other applications, which can be translated into OA therapy. Moreover, anabolic and proliferative levels of OA chondrocytes are low, except initially, when chondrocytes temporarily increase anabolism and proliferation in response to structural changes in their extracellular environment. Therefore, treatments need to restore matrix protein synthesis and proliferation to healthy levels to reverse OA-induced damage. In conjugation with injectable and/or adhesive hydrogels that promote cartilage tissue regeneration, immunomodulatory tissue engineering solutions will have robust potential in OA treatment. This review describes the disease, its current and future immunomodulatory therapies as well as cartilage-regenerative injectable and adhesive hydrogels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)
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16 pages, 1234 KiB  
Review
Articular Cartilage Regeneration in Osteoarthritis
by Livia Roseti, Giovanna Desando, Carola Cavallo, Mauro Petretta and Brunella Grigolo
Cells 2019, 8(11), 1305; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8111305 - 23 Oct 2019
Cited by 119 | Viewed by 10537
Abstract
There has been considerable advancement over the last few years in the treatment of osteoarthritis, common chronic disease and a major cause of disability in older adults. In this pathology, the entire joint is involved and the regeneration of articular cartilage still remains [...] Read more.
There has been considerable advancement over the last few years in the treatment of osteoarthritis, common chronic disease and a major cause of disability in older adults. In this pathology, the entire joint is involved and the regeneration of articular cartilage still remains one of the main challenges, particularly in an actively inflammatory environment. The recent strategies for osteoarthritis treatment are based on the use of different therapeutic solutions such as cell and gene therapies and tissue engineering. In this review, we provide an overview of current regenerative strategies highlighting the pros and cons, challenges and opportunities, and we try to identify areas where future work should be focused in order to advance this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)
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25 pages, 2758 KiB  
Review
The Hemocompatibility of Nanoparticles: A Review of Cell–Nanoparticle Interactions and Hemostasis
by Kara M. de la Harpe, Pierre P.D. Kondiah, Yahya E. Choonara, Thashree Marimuthu, Lisa C. du Toit and Viness Pillay
Cells 2019, 8(10), 1209; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8101209 - 07 Oct 2019
Cited by 207 | Viewed by 9429
Abstract
Understanding cell–nanoparticle interactions is critical to developing effective nanosized drug delivery systems. Nanoparticles have already advanced the treatment of several challenging conditions including cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), yet still hold the potential to improve drug delivery to elusive target sites. Even [...] Read more.
Understanding cell–nanoparticle interactions is critical to developing effective nanosized drug delivery systems. Nanoparticles have already advanced the treatment of several challenging conditions including cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), yet still hold the potential to improve drug delivery to elusive target sites. Even though most nanoparticles will encounter blood at a certain stage of their transport through the body, the interactions between nanoparticles and blood cells is still poorly understood and the importance of evaluating nanoparticle hemocompatibility is vastly understated. In contrast to most review articles that look at the interference of nanoparticles with the intricate coagulation cascade, this review will explore nanoparticle hemocompatibility from a cellular angle. The most important functions of the three cellular components of blood, namely erythrocytes, platelets and leukocytes, in hemostasis are highlighted. The potential deleterious effects that nanoparticles can have on these cells are discussed and insight is provided into some of the complex mechanisms involved in nanoparticle–blood cell interactions. Throughout the review, emphasis is placed on the importance of undertaking thorough, all-inclusive hemocompatibility studies on newly engineered nanoparticles to facilitate their translation into clinical application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)
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Graphical abstract

30 pages, 1967 KiB  
Review
Regeneration of Dermis: Scarring and Cells Involved
by Alexandra L. Rippa, Ekaterina P. Kalabusheva and Ekaterina A. Vorotelyak
Cells 2019, 8(6), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8060607 - 18 Jun 2019
Cited by 159 | Viewed by 16225
Abstract
There are many studies on certain skin cell specifications and their contribution to wound healing. In this review, we provide an overview of dermal cell heterogeneity and their participation in skin repair, scar formation, and in the composition of skin substitutes. The papillary, [...] Read more.
There are many studies on certain skin cell specifications and their contribution to wound healing. In this review, we provide an overview of dermal cell heterogeneity and their participation in skin repair, scar formation, and in the composition of skin substitutes. The papillary, reticular, and hair follicle associated fibroblasts differ not only topographically, but also functionally. Human skin has a number of particular characteristics that are different from murine skin. This should be taken into account in experimental procedures. Dermal cells react differently to skin wounding, remodel the extracellular matrix in their own manner, and convert to myofibroblasts to different extents. Recent studies indicate a special role of papillary fibroblasts in the favorable outcome of wound healing and epithelial-mesenchyme interactions. Neofolliculogenesis can substantially reduce scarring. The role of hair follicle mesenchyme cells in skin repair and possible therapeutic applications is discussed. Participation of dermal cell types in wound healing is described, with the addition of possible mechanisms underlying different outcomes in embryonic and adult tissues in the context of cell population characteristics and extracellular matrix composition and properties. Dermal white adipose tissue involvement in wound healing is also overviewed. Characteristics of myofibroblasts and their activity in scar formation is extensively discussed. Cellular mechanisms of scarring and possible ways for its prevention are highlighted. Data on keloid cells are provided with emphasis on their specific characteristics. We also discuss the contribution of tissue tension to the scar formation as well as the criteria and effectiveness of skin substitutes in skin reconstruction. Special attention is given to the properties of skin substitutes in terms of cell composition and the ability to prevent scarring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cell Biological Techniques and Cell-Biomaterial Interactions)
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