Biomedical Applications of Marine Biomaterials

Dear Colleagues,

Marine organisms can produce various novel chemical molecules, having high potential for drug discovery, and for this reason, they are considered a gold mine for biotechnological purposes. In addition to secondary metabolites, in the last decade, a lot of biomaterials such as various types of polymers and biominerals of marine origin have been identified, isolated, and characterized, and a vast range of applications in the medical sector, including controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering, and diagnostic devices, have been described. Chitosan derived from chitin, collagens and gelatins, and chondroitin sulfate and polysaccharides of algal origin such as alginate and fucoidan are widely used in the production of two- and three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering in the creation of simple and composite biomaterials. In addition, marine biomineralized structures such as biosilica derived from diatoms and sponges, calcium carbonate from coral and mollusks, and hydroxyapatite from fish bones can be used as additives in the tissue regeneration field, while complex 3D chitin or spongin structures of porifera such as the calcium carbonate structures of corals can be a source of inspiration as bone mimicking biomaterial. Marine biopolymers and biominerals combined with new technologies such as 3D printing and electrospinning allow always obtaining new, innovative, and smart custom-designed biomaterials.

This Special Issue of Marine Drugs aims to provide an overview on the most recent advances in the use of marine-derived biomaterials to produce biomedical devices used as 2D or 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering, for drug delivery, or as biosensors for medical diagnostics. As the guest editor, I kindly invite colleagues to contribute with innovative research on biomedical and therapeutic applications of marine-derived biomaterials.

Dr. Marina Pozzolini
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. Marine Drugs 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 2900 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.

• alginate
• collagen
• gelatin
• biosilica
• wound healing
• hydroxyapatite
• tissue engineering
• drug delivery
• fucoidan