Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogels are highly hydrated three-dimensional (3D) networks of cross-linked hydrophilic polymer chains and have been widely explored for use as bioactive delivery agents, cell carriers, consumer products, tissue engineering scaffolds, and for wound healing. Hydrogels can be tailored for different chemical, electrical, mechanical and thermal properties and can even be made to conduct electricity. Recent trends have focused on incorporating carbon-based nanomaterials, clay nanomaterials, metallic and polymeric nanoparticles within the polymeric network to create hybrid, multi-composite and multi-responsive hydrogels.

The goal of this Special Issue is to focus attention on the synergies resulting from the combination of these materials. Nanoparticles can significantly enhance or modulate the electrical, bioinductive, pH, thermal or photoresponse. This Special Issue will feature recent advances in this field, focusing on pharmaceutical and regenerative medical applications, and the use of natural and synthetic additives that impart unique, novel or critical functionalities. Manuscripts that address recent advances combining nanoparticles and hydrogels and highlight the synergic combination for the design of hydrogel systems are especially welcome.

Prof. Dr. David K. Mills
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. 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 2600 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

additives
biomedicine
hydrogel
functionalities

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 8350 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comparative Study of a 3D Bioprinted Gelatin-Based Lattice and Rectangular-Sheet Structures

by Shweta Anil Kumar, Nishat Tasnim, Erick Dominguez, Shane Allen, Laura J. Suggs, Yoshihiro Ito and Binata Joddar

Gels 2018, 4(3), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels4030073 - 04 Sep 2018

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5712

Abstract

3D bioprinting holds great promise in the field of regenerative medicine as it can create complex structures in a layer-by-layer manner using cell-laden bioinks, making it possible to imitate native tissues. Current bioinks lack both high printability and biocompatibility required in this respect. Hence, the development of bioinks that exhibit both properties is needed. In our previous study, a furfuryl-gelatin-based bioink, crosslinkable by visible light, was used for creating mouse mesenchymal stem cell-laden structures with a high fidelity. In this study, lattice mesh geometries were printed in a comparative study to test against the properties of a traditional rectangular-sheet. After 3D printing and crosslinking, both structures were analysed for swelling and rheological properties, and their porosity was estimated using scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the lattice structure was relatively more porous with enhanced rheological properties and exhibited a lower degradation rate compared to the rectangular-sheet. Further, the lattice allowed cells to proliferate to a greater extent compared to the rectangular-sheet, which initially retained a lower number of cells. All of these results collectively affirmed that the lattice poses as a superior scaffold design for tissue engineering applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Polymer Additives in Hydrogel Functionalization)

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Graphical abstract

Review

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28 pages, 3634 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Hydrogel-Based Drug Delivery Nanosystems for the Treatment of Brain Tumors

by João Basso, Ana Miranda, Sandra Nunes, Tânia Cova, João Sousa, Carla Vitorino and Alberto Pais

Gels 2018, 4(3), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels4030062 - 19 Jul 2018

Cited by 80 | Viewed by 12058

Abstract

Chemotherapy is commonly associated with limited effectiveness and unwanted side effects in normal cells and tissues, due to the lack of specificity of therapeutic agents to cancer cells when systemically administered. In brain tumors, the existence of both physiological barriers that protect tumor cells and complex resistance mechanisms to anticancer drugs are additional obstacles that hamper a successful course of chemotherapy, thus resulting in high treatment failure rates. Several potential surrogate therapies have been developed so far. In this context, hydrogel-based systems incorporating nanostructured drug delivery systems (DDS) and hydrogel nanoparticles, also denoted nanogels, have arisen as a more effective and safer strategy than conventional chemotherapeutic regimens. The former, as a local delivery approach, have the ability to confine the release of anticancer drugs near tumor cells over a long period of time, without compromising healthy cells and tissues. Yet, the latter may be systemically administered and provide both loading and targeting properties in their own framework, thus identifying and efficiently killing tumor cells. Overall, this review focuses on the application of hydrogel matrices containing nanostructured DDS and hydrogel nanoparticles as potential and promising strategies for the treatment and diagnosis of glioblastoma and other types of brain cancer. Some aspects pertaining to computational studies are finally addressed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Polymer Additives in Hydrogel Functionalization)

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