Polymers in Biological Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Polymers of natural origin, which are synthesized by bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, may not necessarily be proteins and nucleic acids. The natural properties of biopolymers are closely connected with their natural functions in alive cells and tissues, such as protection, energy storage, those of a mechanical nature, etc. Some chemically synthesized polymers show biomimetic physicochemical properties of natural polymers and therefore exhibit similar bioactivity in natural and artificial biological systems of different levels, such as macromolecular complexes (i.e., genetic constructions), cell membranes and organelles, cells, cell cultures, tissues, organs, microbial communities, and populations of multicellular organisms. These natural and synthetic polymers have great prospects for biomedical applications due to their unique biomedical properties: biocompatibility, biodegradability, biological activity due to specific receptor affinity, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity ratio, permeability to solutes and gases, biomechanical properties, blending capacity, thermoplasticity, gelation, mechanical properties, chemical reactivity, ability in chemical functionalization, electroconductivity, piezoelectric properties, antioxidant activity, etc., which can be associated with their natural functions or biomimetic properties. This open access Special Issue will highlight the very urgent problem of the natural–biomedical properties relationship for different polymers. Therefore, the scope of the Special Issue is to summarize original research and review articles that address the progress in and current standing of the natural functions as well as biomedical properties of polymers in biological systems.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Biodegradation of polymers in cell cultures, tissues, and microbial communities;
• Biocompatibility of polymers for macromolecular complexes and prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic cells;
• The role of polymers’ mechanical properties in cells, tissues, and organs;
• The use of electroconductive and piezoelectric polymers in cells, cell cultures, microbial communities, tissues, and organs.

Dr. Anton P. Bonartsev
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.

• natural polymers
• biomimetic properties
• biocompatibility
• biodegradability
• mechanical properties
• cells
• cell cultures
• tissues
• organs
• microbial communities