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Advances in Micro- and Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications
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Advances in Micro- and Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Nanoscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2024) | Viewed by 1425

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Silvana Alfei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Genoa, Viale Cembrano, 16148 Genoa, Italy
Interests: nanomaterials; dendrimers; macromolecules; hydrogels for biomedical and environmental applications; resins; polymeric drug delivery systems; organic synthesis; antibacterial and/or antitumor cationic macromolecules; solubilizing agents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Materials for biomedical applications, also called biomaterials, are substances that are engineered to be applied as medical devices or components thereof, and they should be suitable for long-term contact with biological constituents. Biomaterials include protheses, reconstituted tissues, intravenous catheters, sutures, and needles. Additionally, they can be designed for use in tissue engineering, for the transport and target delivery of drugs, as genetic materials (gene therapy), or as diagnostic tools. Currently, biomaterials are usually used for the treatment of illnesses or wounds, and materials of biological importance have been developed in the recent past to work beside natural tissues or as an artificial organ in the human body. Such materials can be of synthetic or natural genesis and are differentiated into several types based on their chemical, physical, mechanical, and, most importantly, their biological properties. Biocompatibility and biodegradability are the essential features of any biomaterial finalized for biomedical applications and should not have any side effects when used on a host body. In this regard, the research is greatly focused on developing methods to create naturally sourced biomaterials as they are biodegradable and mainly ecofriendly. The most used materials of biomedical importance include ceramics, metallic materials, biocomposites, synthetic biopolymers, and dendrimers.

The scope of this Special Issue covers the wide range of physical, biological, and chemical sciences that underpin the design of biomaterials and the clinical disciplines in which they are used. These sciences include polymer synthesis and characterization, drug and gene vector design, the biology of the host response, immunology and toxicology, and self-assembly at the nanoscale. Clinical applications include the therapies of medical technology and regenerative medicine in all clinical disciplines, and diagnostic systems that rely on innovative contrast and sensing agents. This Special Issue is relevant to areas such as cancer diagnosis and therapy, implantable devices, drug delivery systems, gene vectors, bio-nanotechnology, and tissue engineering.

Prof. Dr. Silvana Alfei
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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
  • medical applications
  • natural and synthetic polymers
  • tissue engineering
  • hydrogels
  • bone cement
  • drug delivery systems
  • dendrimers
  • micro- and nanocomposites
  • nanotechnology
  • bioceramics
  • biopharmaceutics
  • biosensing

Published Papers (2 papers)

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22 pages, 58278 KiB  
Article
Polydimethylsiloxane Organic–Inorganic Composite Drug Reservoir with Gliclazide
by Ahmed Gedawy, Hani Al-Salami and Crispin R. Dass
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(7), 3991; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25073991 - 03 Apr 2024
Viewed by 561
Abstract
A novel organic–inorganic gliclazide-loaded composite bead was developed by an ionic gelation process using acidified CaCl2, chitosan and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a crosslinker. The beads were manufactured by crosslinking an inorganic silicone elastomer (-OH terminated polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) with TEOS at different [...] Read more.
A novel organic–inorganic gliclazide-loaded composite bead was developed by an ionic gelation process using acidified CaCl2, chitosan and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a crosslinker. The beads were manufactured by crosslinking an inorganic silicone elastomer (-OH terminated polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) with TEOS at different ratios before grafting onto an organic backbone (Na-alginate) using a 32 factorial experimental design. Gliclazide’s encapsulation efficiency (EE%) and drug release over 8 h (% DR 8 h) were set as dependent responses for the optimisation of a pharmaceutical formula (herein referred to as ‘G op’) by response surface methodology. EE % and %DR 8 h of G op were 93.48% ± 0.19 and 70.29% ± 0.18, respectively. G op exhibited a controlled release of gliclazide that follows the Korsmeyer–Peppas kinetic model (R2 = 0.95) with super case II transport and pH-dependent swelling behaviour. In vitro testing of G op showed 92.17% ± 1.18 cell viability upon testing on C2C12 myoblasts, indicating the compatibility of this novel biomaterial platform with skeletal muscle drug delivery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Micro- and Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications)
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29 pages, 4963 KiB  
Article
Synthesis and Characterization of Amine and Aldehyde-Containing Copolymers for Enzymatic Crosslinking of Gelatine
by Silvana Alfei, Federica Pintaudi and Guendalina Zuccari
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(5), 2897; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25052897 - 01 Mar 2024
Viewed by 646
Abstract
In tissue engineering (TE), the support structure (scaffold) plays a key role necessary for cell adhesion and proliferation. The protein constituents of the extracellular matrix (ECM), such as collagen, its derivative gelatine, and elastin, are the most attractive materials as possible scaffolds. To [...] Read more.
In tissue engineering (TE), the support structure (scaffold) plays a key role necessary for cell adhesion and proliferation. The protein constituents of the extracellular matrix (ECM), such as collagen, its derivative gelatine, and elastin, are the most attractive materials as possible scaffolds. To improve the modest mechanical properties of gelatine, a strategy consists of crosslinking it, as naturally occurs for collagen, which is stiffened by the oxidative action of lysyl oxidase (LO). Here, a novel protocol to crosslink gelatine has been developed, not using the commonly employed crosslinkers, but based on the formation of imine bonds or on aldolic condensation reactions occurring between gelatine and properly synthesized copolymers containing amine residues via LO-mediated oxidation. Particularly, we first synthesized and characterized an amino butyl styrene monomer (5), its copolymers with dimethylacrylamide (DMAA), and its terpolymer with DMAA and acrylic acid (AA). Three acryloyl amidoamine monomers (11a–c) and their copolymers with DMAA were then prepared. A methacrolein (MA)/DMAA copolymer already possessing the needed aldehyde groups was finally developed to investigate the relevance of LO in the crosslinking process. Oxidation tests of amine copolymers with LO were performed to identify the best substrates to be used in experiments of gelatine reticulation. Copolymers obtained with 5, 11b, and 11c were excellent substrates for LO and were employed with MA/DMAA copolymers in gelatine crosslinking tests in different conditions. Among the amine-containing copolymers, that obtained with 5 (CP5/DMMA-43.1) afforded a material (M21) with the highest crosslinking percentage (71%). Cytotoxicity experiments carried out on two cell lines (IMR-32 and SH SY5Y) with the analogous (P5) of the synthetic constituent of M21 (CP5/DMAA) had evidenced no significant reduction in cell viability, but proliferation promotion, thus establishing the biocompatibility of M21 and the possibility to develop it as a new scaffold for TE, upon further investigations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Micro- and Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications)
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