Recent Advances in Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications
A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 33
Special Issue Editors
Interests: drug delivery systems; nanocarriers; vaccines; mucosal delivery; hydrogels; tissue repair
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: hydrogels; cell culture; tissue engineering; drug delivery systems; nanocarriers; vaccines
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Tissue engineering (TE) is a promising strategy for tissue repair/regeneration that is based on the combination of three-dimensional (3D) solid scaffolds and/or hydrogels containing biomaterials with biomolecules and cells. Hydrogels are extremely water-swollen, three-dimensional crosslinked networks of synthetic polymers (e.g., polyacrylates, polyethylene glycol) and/or polymers of natural origin (e.g., polysaccharides, collagen, fibrin). Hydrogels exhibit many advantages over solid 3D scaffolds, such as an ability to fine-tune their physicochemical, rheological/mechanical, and biological properties (e.g., gelation kinetics, degree of swelling, stiffness, degradation kinetics) to resemble those of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Furthermore, hydrogels biofunctionalized with cell adhesion peptides and/or other bioactive molecules can increase the adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of various types of cells (e.g., mesenchymal stem cells, fibroblasts, nerve cells, etc). Finally, hydrogels can be applied in a non-invasive manner in the form of topical injections, allowing for in situ crosslinking, and used as bioinks for 3D bioprinting.
This Special Issue is devoted to state-of-the-art research on polymer-based hydrogels for TE applications and will cover the synthesis of novel macromers, the biofunctionalization of new and/or existing biopolymers, the formation of hydrogels via different crosslinking mechanisms, and the fine-tuning of their physicochemical properties, as well as their in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo assessment. In addition to original research papers, the Special Issue welcomes critical reviews on the recent advances in biomimetic hydrogels and the challenges that need to be surpassed to advance their clinical translation.
Dr. Olga Kammona
Dr. Evgenia Tsanaktsidou
Guest Editors
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. Gels 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 2100 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
- bioink formulations
- 3D bioprinting
- cells
- biomolecules
- polymers
- injectable
- biomimetic
- stimuli-responsive hydrogels
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