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Gels
Special Issues
Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications
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Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 16065

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bae Hoon Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou 325000, China
Interests: hydrogels; tissue regeneration; bioinks; 3D printing; drug screening
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nabila Mehwish

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou 325000, China
Interests: biomaterials; hydrogels; tissue regeneration; stimuli-responsive materials; bioinks; wound healing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogels are attractive scaffolds that hold a great deal of water in their 3D structure and are similar to our body tissues in terms of mechanical properties and biocompatibility. They can be widely used in biomedical applications, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. However, conventional hydrogels have several limitations, such as a lack of multifunctionality. As a result, advanced hydrogels have been developed and engineered to address a variety of difficult therapeutic demands (e.g., infected wounds, diabetic wounds, or trauma wound treatment). Recently formed hydrogels can be multifunctional and exhibit high mechanical, bio-adhesive, antibacterial, and antioxidant capabilities. In particular, smart hydrogels may be created by combining multifunctional hydrogels with various bioactive compounds, such as cytokines, immunomodulatory substances, or growth factors. With the ability to modulate both innate and adaptive immune responses, promote chronic wound healing, and ultimately lead to scarless tissue regeneration, advanced multifunctional hydrogels can even provide spatiotemporal control over immune responses. Furthermore, cutting-edge methods including 3D printing, microfluidics, and microneedles can be used to enhance sophisticated multifunctional hydrogels. The numerous bio-applications of cutting-edge multifunctional hydrogels as well as their engineering techniques will be covered in this Special Issue.

We anticipate receiving active submissions on the broad topic of developing advanced hydrogels with multiple functionalities for biomedical applications. It gives us great pleasure to extend an invitation to you to submit a paper for this Special Issue, which is open to brief communications, case reports, reviews, and original research articles.

We await your contributions.

Dr. Bae Hoon Lee
Dr. Nabila Mehwish
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
  • immunoregulation
  • multifunctional properties
  • polymers
  • nanocomposites
  • tissue regeneration
  • wound healing
  • bioprinting
  • drug delivery
  • cell culture

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3696 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of Sodium Trimetaphosphate-Based PEDOT:PSS Conductive Hydrogels
by Madelyn Reynolds, Lindsay M. Stoy, Jindi Sun, Prince Emmanuel Opoku Amponsah, Lin Li, Misael Soto and Shang Song
Gels 2024, 10(2), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10020115 - 1 Feb 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2337
Abstract
Conductive hydrogels are highly attractive for biomedical applications due to their ability to mimic the electrophysiological environment of biological tissues. Although conducting polymer polythiophene-poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) alone exhibit high conductivity, the addition of other chemical compositions could further improve the [...] Read more.
Conductive hydrogels are highly attractive for biomedical applications due to their ability to mimic the electrophysiological environment of biological tissues. Although conducting polymer polythiophene-poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) alone exhibit high conductivity, the addition of other chemical compositions could further improve the electrical and mechanical properties of PEDOT:PSS, providing a more promising interface with biological tissues. Here we study the effects of incorporating crosslinking additives, such as glycerol and sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP), in developing interpenetrating PEDOT:PSS-based conductive hydrogels. The addition of glycerol at a low concentration maintained the PEDOT:PSS conductivity with enhanced wettability but decreased the mechanical stiffness. Increasing the concentration of STMP allowed sufficient physical crosslinking with PEDOT:PSS, resulting in improved hydrogel conductivity, wettability, and rheological properties without glycerol. The STMP-based PEDOT:PSS conductive hydrogels also exhibited shear-thinning behaviors, which are potentially favorable for extrusion-based 3D bioprinting applications. We demonstrate an interpenetrating conducting polymer hydrogel with tunable electrical and mechanical properties for cellular interactions and future tissue engineering applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications)
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12 pages, 4616 KiB  
Article
A Self-Assembling Peptide as a Model for Detection of Colorectal Cancer
by Yuan Wan, Ruyue Luo, Jialei Chen, Xinyi Luo, Guicen Liu, Di Su, Na Lu, Qichen Liu and Zhongli Luo
Gels 2022, 8(12), 770; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8120770 - 25 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1988
Abstract
Patient-derived organoid (PDO) models have been widely used in precision medicine. The inability to standardize organoid creation in pre-clinical models has become apparent. The common mouse-derived extracellular matrix can no longer meet the requirements for the establishment of PDO models. Therefore, in order [...] Read more.
Patient-derived organoid (PDO) models have been widely used in precision medicine. The inability to standardize organoid creation in pre-clinical models has become apparent. The common mouse-derived extracellular matrix can no longer meet the requirements for the establishment of PDO models. Therefore, in order to develop effective methods for 3D cultures of organoids, we designed a self-assembling peptide, namely DRF3, which can be self-assembled into ordered fibrous scaffold structures. Here, we used the co-assembly of self-assembling peptide (SAP) and collagen type I, fibronectin, and laminin (SAP-Matrix) to co-simulate the extracellular matrix, which significantly reduced the culture time of PDO, improved the culture efficiency, and increased the self-assembly ability of cells. Compared with the results from the 2D cell line, the PDO showed a more significant expression of cancer-related genes. During organoid self-assembly, the expression of cancer-related genes is increased. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the establishment of precision molecular modeling platforms in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications)
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21 pages, 6399 KiB  
Article
Mussel-Inspired Surface Functionalization of Porous Albumin Cryogels Supporting Synergistic Antibacterial/Antioxidant Activity and Bone-Like Apatite Formation
by Nabila Mehwish, Mengdie Xu, Muhammad Zaeem and Bae Hoon Lee
Gels 2022, 8(10), 679; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8100679 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2418
Abstract
A crucial method for adding new functions to current biomaterials for biomedical applications has been surface functionalization via molecular design. Mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) has generated much attention as a facile method for the functionalization of biomaterials because of its substantial independence in deposition, [...] Read more.
A crucial method for adding new functions to current biomaterials for biomedical applications has been surface functionalization via molecular design. Mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) has generated much attention as a facile method for the functionalization of biomaterials because of its substantial independence in deposition, beneficial cell interactions, and significant responsiveness aimed at secondary functionalization. Because of their porous structure, the bovine serum albumin methacryloyl (BSAMA)-BM cryogels were functionalized with PDA (BM-PDA), which may reproduce the architecture and biological purpose of the natural extracellular environment. Excellent antioxidative and antibacterial qualities, improved mineralization, and better cell responsiveness were all demonstrated by BM-PDA. BM-PDA scaffolds maintained their linked and uniform pores after functionalization, which can make it easier for nutrients to be transported during bone repair. As a result, hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated BM* and BM-PDA* cryogels were created through successive mineralization with the goal of mineralized bone tissue repair. The heterogeneous nucleation and surface roughness contributed to rod-like apatite production in BM-PDA* cryogels whereas BM* cryogels were made up of plate-like HA morphologies. Analysis results showed that after five cycles, the mineral contents were around 57% and the HA units remained equally dispersed on the surface of BM-PDA* with a Ca/P ratio of 1.63. Other natural polymer-based cryogels can be coated using this general, rapid, and simple PDA coating technique and utilized as implants for bone tissue engineering. Future clinical uses of albumin cryogels for bone tissue engineering will advance as a result of additional in-vivo testing of such PDA-coated cryogels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications)
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Review

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19 pages, 1561 KiB  
Review
Collagen-Based Scaffolds for Chronic Skin Wound Treatment
by Francesco La Monica, Simona Campora and Giulio Ghersi
Gels 2024, 10(2), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10020137 - 8 Feb 2024
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5000
Abstract
Chronic wounds, commonly known as ulcers, represent a significant challenge to public health, impacting millions of individuals every year and imposing a significant financial burden on the global health system. Chronic wounds result from the interruption of the natural wound-healing process due to [...] Read more.
Chronic wounds, commonly known as ulcers, represent a significant challenge to public health, impacting millions of individuals every year and imposing a significant financial burden on the global health system. Chronic wounds result from the interruption of the natural wound-healing process due to internal and/or external factors, resulting in slow or nonexistent recovery. Conventional medical approaches are often inadequate to deal with chronic wounds, necessitating the exploration of new methods to facilitate rapid and effective healing. In recent years, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering have emerged as promising avenues to encourage tissue regeneration. These approaches aim to achieve anatomical and functional restoration of the affected area through polymeric components, such as scaffolds or hydrogels. This review explores collagen-based biomaterials as potential therapeutic interventions for skin chronic wounds, specifically focusing on infective and diabetic ulcers. Hence, the different approaches described are classified on an action-mechanism basis. Understanding the issues preventing chronic wound healing and identifying effective therapeutic alternatives could indicate the best way to optimize therapeutic units and to promote more direct and efficient healing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications)
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20 pages, 2506 KiB  
Review
Nano-Gels: Recent Advancement in Fabrication Methods for Mitigation of Skin Cancer
by Ghallab Alotaibi, Sitah Alharthi, Biswajit Basu, Dipanjana Ash, Swarnali Dutta, Sudarshan Singh, Bhupendra G. Prajapati, Sankha Bhattacharya, Vijay R. Chidrawar and Havagiray Chitme
Gels 2023, 9(4), 331; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels9040331 - 13 Apr 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3538
Abstract
In the 21st century, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers have become an epidemic outbreak worldwide. Therefore, the exploration of all potential preventative and therapeutic measures based on either physical or bio-chemical mechanisms is essential via understanding precise pathophysiological pathways (Mitogen-activated protein kinase, Phosphatidylinositol [...] Read more.
In the 21st century, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers have become an epidemic outbreak worldwide. Therefore, the exploration of all potential preventative and therapeutic measures based on either physical or bio-chemical mechanisms is essential via understanding precise pathophysiological pathways (Mitogen-activated protein kinase, Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase Pathway, and Notch signaling pathway) and other aspects of such skin malignancies. Nano-gel, a three-dimensional polymeric cross-linked porous hydrogel having a diameter of 20–200 nm, possesses dual properties of both hydrogel and nanoparticle. The capacity of high drug entrapment efficiency with greater thermodynamic stability, remarkable solubilization potential, and swelling behavior of nano-gel becomes a promising candidate as a targeted drug delivery system in the treatment of skin cancer. Nano-gel can be either synthetically or architectonically modified for responding to either internal or external stimuli, including radiation, ultrasound, enzyme, magnetic, pH, temperature, and oxidation-reduction to achieve controlled release of pharmaceuticals and several bio-active molecules such as proteins, peptides, genes via amplifying drug aggregation in the active targeted tissue and reducing adverse pharmacological effects. Several drugs, such as anti-neoplastic biomolecules having short biological half-lives and prompt enzyme degradability capacity, must be appropriate for administration employing either chemically bridged or physically constructed nano-gel frameworks. The comprehensive review summarizes the advancement in the preparation and characterization methods of targeted nano-gel with enhanced pharmacological potential and preserved intracellular safety limits for the mitigation of skin malignancies with a special emphasize on skin cancer inducing pathophysiological pathways and prospective research opportunities for skin malignancy targeted nano-gels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering Advanced Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications)
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