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Gels
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Functional Gels Applied in Tissue Engineering
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Functional Gels Applied in Tissue Engineering

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 4765

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hai Xin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Interests: functional gels; smart polymers; tissue engineering
Dr. Maruf Al Maruf

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Integrated Reconstruction and Prosthetics Program, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Central Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Interests: functional gels; regenerative medicine; cartilage and bone tissue regeneration
Dr. Alexey Vertegel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Bionanomaterials Lab, Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Interests: gels; surface modification; antimicrobial and antioxidant coatings; chitosan; drug delivery devices; nanomaterials; biocompatibility; implant coatings

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are here to organize a Special Issue “Functional Gels Applied in Tissue Engineering”.

Gels or hydrogels became one of the most common biomaterials over recent years due to their excellent properties. For example, as a promising candidate for scaffold materials in tissue regeneration, gels based on both synthetic and natural polymers have attracted intense research interests.

The present Special Issue is dedicated to providing an open and vivid forum to share and discuss your latest research milestones on the theories, applications, challenges, and prospectives of using functional gels and/or hydrogels in tissue regeneration and repair. We aim to demonstrate and discuss our current understanding on the structures, synthesis, performance assessments, and applications of various gels to facilitate tissue reconstructions.

The paper type can be a research article, review, short communication, method/protocol, or perspective.

Dr. Hai Xin
Dr. Maruf Al Maruf
Dr. Alexey Vertegel
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

  • functional gel
  • hydrogels
  • responsive hydrogels
  • injectable hydrogels
  • tissue engineering
  • regenerative medicine
  • scaffold
  • delivery
  • extracellular matrix
  • 3D Printing
  • actuators and sensors, etc

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 4003 KiB  
Article
Fabrication and Characterization of Porous PEGDA Hydrogels for Articular Cartilage Regeneration
by Silvia Gonella, Margarida F. Domingues, Filipe Miguel, Carla S. Moura, Carlos A. V. Rodrigues, Frederico Castelo Ferreira and João C. Silva
Gels 2024, 10(7), 422; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10070422 - 26 Jun 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2551
Abstract
Functional articular cartilage regeneration remains an unmet medical challenge, increasing the interest for innovative biomaterial-based tissue engineering (TE) strategies. Hydrogels, 3D macromolecular networks with hydrophilic groups, present articular cartilage-like features such as high water content and load-bearing capacity. In this study, 3D porous [...] Read more.
Functional articular cartilage regeneration remains an unmet medical challenge, increasing the interest for innovative biomaterial-based tissue engineering (TE) strategies. Hydrogels, 3D macromolecular networks with hydrophilic groups, present articular cartilage-like features such as high water content and load-bearing capacity. In this study, 3D porous polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels were fabricated combining the gas foaming technique and a UV-based crosslinking strategy. The 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels were characterized in terms of their physical, structural and mechanical properties. Our results showed that the size of the hydrogel pores can be modulated by varying the initiator concentration. In vitro cytotoxicity tests showed that 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels presented high biocompatibility both with human chondrocytes and osteoblast-like cells. Importantly, the 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels supported the viability and chondrogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (hBM-MSC)-based spheroids as demonstrated by the positive staining of typical cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) (glycosaminoglycans (GAGs)) and upregulation of chondrogenesis marker genes. Overall, the produced 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels presented cartilage-like mechanical properties and supported MSC spheroid chondrogenesis, highlighting their potential as suitable scaffolds for cartilage TE or disease modelling strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Gels Applied in Tissue Engineering)
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16 pages, 7330 KiB  
Article
The Highly Durable Antibacterial Gel-like Coatings for Textiles
by Seyedali Mirmohammadsadeghi, David Juhas, Mikhail Parker, Kristina Peranidze, Dwight Austin Van Horn, Aayushi Sharma, Dhruvi Patel, Tatyana A. Sysoeva, Vladislav Klepov and Vladimir Reukov
Gels 2024, 10(6), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10060398 - 13 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1772
Abstract
Hospital-acquired infections are considered a priority for public health systems since they pose a significant burden for society. High-touch surfaces of healthcare centers, including textiles, provide a suitable environment for pathogenic bacteria to grow, necessitating incorporating effective antibacterial agents into textiles. This paper [...] Read more.
Hospital-acquired infections are considered a priority for public health systems since they pose a significant burden for society. High-touch surfaces of healthcare centers, including textiles, provide a suitable environment for pathogenic bacteria to grow, necessitating incorporating effective antibacterial agents into textiles. This paper introduces a highly durable antibacterial gel-like solution, Silver Shell™ finish, which contains chitosan-bound silver chloride microparticles. The study investigates the coating’s environmental impact, health risks, and durability during repeated washing. The structure of the Silver Shell™ finish was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The TEM images showed a core–shell structure, with chitosan forming a protective shell around groupings of silver microparticles. The field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) demonstrated the uniform deposition of Silver Shell™ on the surfaces of the fabrics. AATCC Test Method 100 was employed to quantitatively analyze the antibacterial properties of the fabrics coated with silver microparticles. Two types of bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli), were used in this study. The antibacterial results showed that after 75 wash cycles, a 100% reduction for both S. aureus and E. coli in the coated samples using crosslinking agents was observed. The coated samples without a crosslinking agent exhibited 99.88% and 99.81% reductions for S. aureus and E. coli after 50 washing cycles. To compare the antibacterial properties toward non-pathogenic and pathogenic strains of the same species, MG1655 model E. coli strain (ATCC 29213) and a multidrug-resistant clinical isolate were used. The results showed the antibacterial efficiency of the Silver ShellTM solution (up to 99.99% reduction) coated on cotton fabric. AATCC-147 was performed to investigate the coated samples’ leaching properties and the crosslinking agent’s effects against S. aureus and E. coli. All coated samples demonstrated remarkable antibacterial efficacy, even after 75 wash cycles. The crosslinking agent facilitated durable attachment between the silver microparticles and cotton substrate, minimizing the release of particles from the fabrics. Color measurements were conducted to assess the color differences resulting from the coating process. The results indicated fixation values of 44%, 32%, and 28% following 25, 50, and 75 washing cycles, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Gels Applied in Tissue Engineering)
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