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Biomedical Applications of Polymeric Materials, 3rd Edition

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 505

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16 University Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Interests: biopolymeric films; wound healing; electrospun nanofibers; chitosan/hyaluronic acid materials for wound healing; organic synthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iași, 16 Universitaty Street, 700115 Iași, Romania
Interests: organic synthesis; drug delivery systems (liposomes, niosomes, chitosan nanoparticles, nanofiber, nanofibers, films, sponges); molecular docking; structure-based drug design strategies; antioxidant activity; anti-inflammatory activity; diabetes mellitus type 2
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymers, and especially biopolymers, have attracted the interest of scientists since ancient times and are widely used in the medical and pharmaceutical fields due to their unique properties, which include versatility, bacteriostatic and hemostatic action, low cost of production, non-toxicity, great functionality, biocompatibility, and high absorbent capacity. The medical applications of biopolymeric materials vary from general healthcare to specific and very targeted domains such as surgery, wound healing, cancer management, tissue engineering, implants, and drug delivery system formulation. The development of functionalized polymeric materials or nanobiomaterials is a field of great relevance because it includes a multitude of biomaterials that can be applied in medical applications such as films, sponges, wound dressings, hydrogels, aerogels, electro-spun nanofibers, nanoparticles, etc.

Modern techniques can enable the precise control of polymers or biopolymers for the proper development of convenient candidates for biomedical applications. Thus, in this Special Issue, we aim to create a platform for researchers to disseminate their results in relation to polymeric materials used in biomedical applications.

Dr. Andreea-Teodora Iacob
Prof. Dr. Lenuta Profire
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. Polymers 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

  • biopolymers
  • polysaccharide
  • medical application
  • pharmaceutical application
  • in vitro and in vivo assays
  • chemical properties
  • physical properties
  • polymer chain structure
  • biopolymeric materials
  • polymeric materials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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23 pages, 4926 KiB  
Article
Light-Mediated 3D-Printed Wound Dressings Based on Natural Polymers with Improved Adhesion and Antioxidant Properties
by Rute Silva, Matilde Medeiros, Carlos T. B. Paula, Sofia Saraiva, Rafael C. Rebelo, Patrícia Pereira, Jorge F. J. Coelho, Arménio C. Serra and Ana C. Fonseca
Polymers 2025, 17(8), 1114; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17081114 - 20 Apr 2025
Viewed by 198
Abstract
The lack of personalized wound dressings tailored to individual needs can significantly hinder wound healing. Hydrogels offer a promising solution, as they can be engineered to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM), providing an optimal environment for wound repair. The integration of digital light [...] Read more.
The lack of personalized wound dressings tailored to individual needs can significantly hinder wound healing. Hydrogels offer a promising solution, as they can be engineered to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM), providing an optimal environment for wound repair. The integration of digital light processing (DLP), a high-resolution 3D printing process, allows precise customization of hydrogel-based wound dressings. In this study, gelatin methacrylate (GelMA)-based formulations were prepared in combination with three different polymeric precursors: methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HAMA), poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and allyl cellulose (MCCA). These precursors were used to print high-resolution micropatterned patches. The printed constructs revealed a high gel content and a good resistance to hydrolytic degradation. To improve the adhesive and antioxidant properties of the printed patches, gallic acid (GA) was incorporated through surface functionalization. This enabled the scavenging of approximately 80% of free radicals within just 4 h. The adhesive properties of the printed wound dressings were also significantly improved, with further enhancement observed upon the addition of Fe3+ ions. In vitro cytocompatibility tests using a fibroblast (NHDF) cell line confirmed the suitability of the materials for biomedical applications. Thus, this study demonstrates the potential of DLP-printed hydrogels as advanced personalized wound dressing materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Polymeric Materials, 3rd Edition)
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17 pages, 2458 KiB  
Article
NIR pH-Responsive PEGylated PLGA Nanoparticles as Effective Phototoxic Agents in Resistant PDAC Cells
by Degnet Melese Dereje, Francesca Bianco, Carlotta Pontremoli, Alessandra Fiorio Pla and Nadia Barbero
Polymers 2025, 17(8), 1101; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17081101 - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 229
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide due to its resistance to conventional therapies that is attributed to its dense and acidic tumor microenvironment. Chemotherapy based on gemcitabine usually lacks efficacy due to poor drug penetration and the metabolic [...] Read more.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide due to its resistance to conventional therapies that is attributed to its dense and acidic tumor microenvironment. Chemotherapy based on gemcitabine usually lacks efficacy due to poor drug penetration and the metabolic characteristics of the cells adapted to grow at a more acidic pHe, thus presenting a more aggressive phenotype. In this context, photodynamic therapy (PDT) offers a promising alternative since it generally does not suffer from the same patterns of cross-resistance observed with chemotherapy drugs. In the present work, a novel bromine-substituted heptamethine-cyanine dye (BrCY7) was synthesized, loaded into PEG-PLGA NPs, and tested on the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell line cultured under physiological (PANC-1 CT) and acidic (PANC-1 pH selected) conditions, which promotes the selection of a more aggressive phenotype. The cytotoxicity of BrCY7-PEG-PLGA is dose-dependent, with an IC50 of 2.15 µM in PANC-1 CT and 2.87 µM in PANC-1 pH selected. Notably, BrCY7-PEG-PLGA demonstrated a phototoxic effect against PANC-1 pH selected cells but not on PANC-1 CT, which makes these findings particularly relevant since PANC-1 pH selected cells are more resistant to gemcitabine as compared with PANC-1 CT cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Polymeric Materials, 3rd Edition)
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