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Biomaterials Sourced from Nature
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Biomaterials Sourced from Nature

A special issue of Journal of Functional Biomaterials (ISSN 2079-4983). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials and Devices for Healthcare Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2023) | Viewed by 21333

Special Issue Editor

Dr. David Alexander Gregory

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7HQ, UK
Interests: biomaterials; additive manufacturing; tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; biopolymers; biosensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nature provides a fantastic catalogue of inspiration for materials and structural concepts that can be utilized for improving people’s health and living standards, as well as encouraging a move towards a circular economy, which is needed even more urgently. Millions of years of evolution have provided natural lifeforms, such as bacteria, plants, insects and animals, the ability to produce a myriad of complex biomaterials that possess a number of inherent advantages over synthetic materials for biomedical uses. Naturally derived biomaterials are more economical, biodegradable and bioresorbable than synthetic materials, have tunable properties and enhance self-repair. These properties allow them to be processed in ways to mimic native tissue of the target application, making them excellent sustainable materials for regenerative medicine.

Over recent decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the use of natural biomaterials for biomedical applications. This is especially seen in multidisciplinary research where an ever-increasing number of biomaterials are being used, e.g., in additive manufacturing approaches targeted towards 3D tissue culture for in vitro models as well as for organ and tissue replacement applications. Here, biomaterials are frequently combined to produce composites and complex multi-material cell-laden scaffolds and structures for biomedical applications and sensing devices.

Biomaterials can be obtained from a large array of natural sources such as bacterially derived polyhydroxyalkanoates or silk fibroin and sericin extracted from silkworms. Some biomaterials such as cellulose can even be sourced from plants as well as bacteria, with differing properties dependent on the source. Other natural biomaterials commonly used in tissue engineering include alginate, agarose, collagens, chitin and keratins.

Depending on the organism from which the biomaterial is derived, materials can be directly used for the target application or must undergo extraction and/or purification steps as well as potential chemical modification to help tune, e.g., bioresorbability in order for the material to be more suitable or to avoid inflammation of the target site.

This Special Issue is focused on the application of biomaterials that have been obtained from natural sources. Furthermore, the study of natural sources/biomaterials or novel extraction methodologies that have not been reported yet are particularly welcome as well as novel biomedical applications. 

Dr. David Alexander Gregory
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. Journal of Functional Biomaterials 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 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

  • natural biomaterials
  • biodegradable
  • biocompatible
  • scaffolds for regenerative medicine
  • biosensors
  • multi-material scaffolds
  • 3D tissue engineering

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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18 pages, 3021 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Biomedical Applications for Linseed Extract: Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Anti-Diabetic, and Anti-Inflammatory Activities In Vitro
by Mohamed M. Alawlaqi, Aisha M. H. Al-Rajhi, Tarek M. Abdelghany, Magdah Ganash and Hanan Moawad
J. Funct. Biomater. 2023, 14(6), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb14060300 - 28 May 2023
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2637
Abstract
Background: In the last few decades, the development of multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes has accelerated alarmingly and resulted in significant health issues. Morbidity and mortality have increased along with the prevalence of infections caused by MDR bacteria, making the need to solve these problems [...] Read more.
Background: In the last few decades, the development of multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes has accelerated alarmingly and resulted in significant health issues. Morbidity and mortality have increased along with the prevalence of infections caused by MDR bacteria, making the need to solve these problems an urgent and unmet challenge. Therefore, the current investigation aimed to evaluate the activity of linseed extract against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as an isolate from diabetic foot infection. In addition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory biological activities of linseed extract were evaluated. Result: HPLC analysis indicated the presence of 1932.20 µg/mL, 284.31 µg/mL, 155.10 µg/mL, and 120.86 µg/mL of chlorogenic acid, methyl gallate, gallic acid, and ellagic acid, respectively, in the linseed extract. Rutin, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, and vanillin were also detected in the extract of linseed. Linseed extract inhibited MRSA (35.67 mm inhibition zone) compared to the inhibition zone (29.33 mm) caused by ciprofloxacin. Standards of chlorogenic acid, ellagic acid, methyl gallate, rutin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechin, and coumaric acid compounds reflected different inhibition zones against MRSA when tested individually, but less than the inhibitory action of crude extract. A lower MIC value, of 15.41 µg/mL, was observed using linseed extract than the MIC 31.17 µg/mL of the ciprofloxacin. The MBC/MIC index indicated the bactericidal properties of linseed extract. The inhibition % of MRSA biofilm was 83.98, 90.80, and 95.58%, using 25%, 50%, and 75%, respectively, of the MBC of linseed extract. A promising antioxidant activity of linseed extract was recorded, with an IC50 value of 20.8 µg/mL. Anti-diabetic activity of linseed extract, expressed by glucosidase inhibition, showed an IC50 of 177.75 µg/mL. Anti-hemolysis activity of linseed extract was documented at 90.1, 91.5, and 93.7% at 600, 800, and 1000 µg/mL, respectively. Anti-hemolysis activity of the chemical drug indomethacin, on the other hand, was measured at 94.6, 96.2, and 98.6% at 600, 800, and 1000 µg/mL, respectively. The interaction of the main detected compound in linseed extract (chlorogenic acid) with the crystal structure of the 4G6D protein of S. aureus was investigated via the molecular docking (MD) mode to determine the greatest binding approach that interacted most energetically with the binding locations. MD showed that chlorogenic acid was an appropriate inhibitor for S. aureus via inhibition of its 4HI0 protein. The MD interaction resulted in a low energy score (−6.26841 Kcal/mol) with specified residues (PRO 38, LEU 3, LYS 195, and LYS 2), indicating its essential role in the repression of S. aureus growth. Conclusion: Altogether, these findings clearly revealed the great potential of the in vitro biological activity of linseed extract as a safe source for combatting multidrug-resistant S. aureus. In addition, linseed extract provides health-promoting antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory phytoconstituents. Clinical reports are required to authenticate the role of linseed extract in the treatment of a variety of ailments and prevent the development of complications associated with diabetes mellitus, particularly type 2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials Sourced from Nature)
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19 pages, 5094 KiB  
Article
Pharmacological Evaluation of Acacia nilotica Flower Extract against Helicobacter pylori and Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Vitro and In Silico
by Aisha M. H. Al-Rajhi, Husam Qanash, Abdulrahman S. Bazaid, Naif K. Binsaleh and Tarek M. Abdelghany
J. Funct. Biomater. 2023, 14(4), 237; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb14040237 - 21 Apr 2023
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4544
Abstract
The resistance of cancer and Helicobacter pylori to several drugs reflects a worldwide problem, and it has been the intention of numerous researchers to overcome this problem. Thus, in this study, Acacia nilotica fruits were subjected to HPLC analysis to detect their phenolic [...] Read more.
The resistance of cancer and Helicobacter pylori to several drugs reflects a worldwide problem, and it has been the intention of numerous researchers to overcome this problem. Thus, in this study, Acacia nilotica fruits were subjected to HPLC analysis to detect their phenolic compounds and flavonoids. Moreover, A. nilotica‘s anti-H. pylori activity and its inhibitory activity against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2 cells) were reported. Various compounds with different concentrations, such as ferulic acid (5451.04 µg/mL), chlorogenic acid (4572.26 µg/mL), quercetin (3733.37 µg/mL), rutin (2393.13 µg/mL), gallic acid (2116.77 µg/mL), cinnamic acid (69.72 µg/mL), hesperetin (121.39 µg/mL) and methyl gallate (140.45 µg/mL), were detected. Strong anti-H. pylori activity at 31 mm was reported, compared to the positive control of the 21.67 mm inhibition zone. Moreover, the MIC and MBC were 7.8 µg/mL and 15.62 µg/mL, respectively, while the MIC and MBC of the positive control were 31.25 µg/mL. The concentration of MBC at 25%, 50% and 75% reflected H. pylori’s anti-biofilm activity of 70.38%, 82.29% and 94.22%, respectively. Good antioxidant properties of the A. nilotica flower extract were documented at 15.63, 62.50, 250 and 1000 µg/mL, causing the DPPH scavenging percentages of 42.3%, 52.6%, 65.5% and 80.6%, respectively, with a IC50 of 36.74 µg/mL. HepG-2 cell proliferation was inhibited (91.26%) using 500 µg/mL of flower extract with an IC50 of 176.15 µg/mL, compared to an IC50 of 395.30 µg/mL used against human normal melanocytes. Molecular docking was applied to investigate ferulic acid with the H. pylori (4HI0) crystal structure to determine the best binding mode that interacted most energetically with the binding sites. Molecular docking indicated that ferulic acid was a proper inhibitor for the 4HI0 protein enzyme of H. pylori. A low energy score (−5.58 Kcal/mol) was recorded as a result of the interaction of ferulic acid with the residue’s SER 139 active site caused by the O 29 atom, which was important for its antibacterial activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials Sourced from Nature)
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39 pages, 74149 KiB  
Article
Additive Manufacturing of Polyhydroxyalkanoate-Based Blends Using Fused Deposition Modelling for the Development of Biomedical Devices
by David Alexander Gregory, Annabelle T. R. Fricker, Peter Mitrev, Meghna Ray, Emmanuel Asare, Daniel Sim, Soponvit Larpnimitchai, Zixuan Zhang, Jinge Ma, Santosh S. V. Tetali and Ipsita Roy
J. Funct. Biomater. 2023, 14(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb14010040 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4262
Abstract
In the last few decades Additive Manufacturing has advanced and is becoming important for biomedical applications. In this study we look at a variety of biomedical devices including, bone implants, tooth implants, osteochondral tissue repair patches, general tissue repair patches, nerve guidance conduits [...] Read more.
In the last few decades Additive Manufacturing has advanced and is becoming important for biomedical applications. In this study we look at a variety of biomedical devices including, bone implants, tooth implants, osteochondral tissue repair patches, general tissue repair patches, nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) and coronary artery stents to which fused deposition modelling (FDM) can be applied. We have proposed CAD designs for these devices and employed a cost-effective 3D printer to fabricate proof-of-concept prototypes. We highlight issues with current CAD design and slicing and suggest optimisations of more complex designs targeted towards biomedical applications. We demonstrate the ability to print patient specific implants from real CT scans and reconstruct missing structures by means of mirroring and mesh mixing. A blend of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a family of biocompatible and bioresorbable natural polymers and Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), a known bioresorbable medical polymer is used. Our characterisation of the PLA/PHA filament suggest that its tensile properties might be useful to applications such as stents, NGCs, and bone scaffolds. In addition to this, the proof-of-concept work for other applications shows that FDM is very useful for a large variety of other soft tissue applications, however other more elastomeric MCL-PHAs need to be used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials Sourced from Nature)
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13 pages, 916 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Anti-Thrombogenic Activity of Polyurethane Starch Composites
by Jhoan F. Cespedes, Said Arévalo-Alquichire, Luis E. Diaz and Manuel F. Valero
J. Funct. Biomater. 2022, 13(4), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb13040184 - 12 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2524
Abstract
The increasing morbidity and mortality of patients due to post-surgery complications of coronary artery bypass grafts (CABPG) are related to blood–material interactions. Thus, the characterization of the thrombogenicity of the biomaterial for cardiovascular devices is of particular interest. This research evaluated the anti-thrombogenic [...] Read more.
The increasing morbidity and mortality of patients due to post-surgery complications of coronary artery bypass grafts (CABPG) are related to blood–material interactions. Thus, the characterization of the thrombogenicity of the biomaterial for cardiovascular devices is of particular interest. This research evaluated the anti-thrombogenic activity of polyurethanes–starch composites. We previously synthesized polyurethane matrices that were obtained from polycaprolactone diol (PCL), polyethylene glycol (PEG), pentaerythritol (PE), and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI). In addition, potato starch (AL-N) and zwitterionic starch (AL-Z) were added as fillers. The anti-thrombogenic property was characterized by the clot formation time, platelet adhesion, protein absorption, TAT complex levels, and hemolysis. Additionally, we evaluated the cell viability of the endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Statically significant differences among the polyurethane matrices (P1, P2, and P3) were found for protein absorption and the blood clotting time without fillers. The polyurethanes composites with AL-Z presented an improvement in the anti-thrombogenic property. On the other hand, the composites with AL-Z reduced the viability of the endothelial cells and did not significantly affect the AoSCM (except for P1, which increased). These results classify these biomaterials as inert; therefore, they can be used for cardiovascular applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials Sourced from Nature)
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14 pages, 2598 KiB  
Article
The Effect of a Dodecahedron-Shaped Structure on the Properties of an Enzyme
by Yuri D. Ivanov, Vadim Y. Tatur, Ivan D. Shumov, Andrey F. Kozlov, Anastasia A. Valueva, Irina A. Ivanova, Maria O. Ershova, Nina D. Ivanova, Igor N. Stepanov, Andrei A. Lukyanitsa and Vadim S. Ziborov
J. Funct. Biomater. 2022, 13(4), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb13040166 - 28 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2873
Abstract
In this research, the influence of a dodecahedron-shaped structure on the adsorption behavior of a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme glycoprotein onto mica substrates was studied. In the experiments, samples of an aqueous HRP solution were incubated at various distances (0.03 m, 2 m, [...] Read more.
In this research, the influence of a dodecahedron-shaped structure on the adsorption behavior of a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme glycoprotein onto mica substrates was studied. In the experiments, samples of an aqueous HRP solution were incubated at various distances (0.03 m, 2 m, 5 m, and control at 20 m) from the dodecahedron surface. After the incubation, the direct adsorption of HRP onto mica substrates immersed in the solutions was performed, and the mica-adsorbed HRP particles were visualized via atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effect of the increased HRP aggregation was only observed after the incubation of the enzyme solution at the 2 m distance from the dodecahedron. In addition, with respect to the control sample, spectrophotometric measurements revealed no change in the HRP enzymatic activity after the incubation at any of the distances studied. The results reported herein can be of use in the modeling of the possible influences of various spatial structures on biological objects in the development of biosensors and other electronic equipment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials Sourced from Nature)
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12 pages, 5589 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial Fibrous Bandage-like Scaffolds Using Clove Bud Oil
by Carlota von Thadden, Esra Altun, Mehmet Aydogdu, Mohan Edirisinghe and Jubair Ahmed
J. Funct. Biomater. 2022, 13(3), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/jfb13030136 - 30 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3338
Abstract
Wounds are characterised by an anatomical disruption of the skin; this leaves the body exposed to opportunistic pathogens which contribute to infections. Current wound healing bandages do little to protect against this and when they do, they can often utilise harmful additions. Historically, [...] Read more.
Wounds are characterised by an anatomical disruption of the skin; this leaves the body exposed to opportunistic pathogens which contribute to infections. Current wound healing bandages do little to protect against this and when they do, they can often utilise harmful additions. Historically, plant-based constituents have been extensively used for wound treatment and are proven beneficial in such environments. In this work, the essential oil of clove bud (Syzygium aromaticum) was incorporated in a polycaprolactone (PCL) solution, and 44.4% (v/v) oil-containing fibres were produced through pressurised gyration. The antimicrobial activity of these bandage-like fibres was analysed using in vitro disk diffusion and the physical fibre properties were also assessed. The work showed that advantageous fibre morphologies were achieved with diameters of 10.90 ± 4.99 μm. The clove bud oil fibres demonstrated good antimicrobial properties. They exhibited inhibition zone diameters of 30, 18, 11, and 20 mm against microbial colonies of C. albicans, E. coli, S. aureus, and S. pyogenes, respectively. These microbial species are commonly problematic in environments where the skin barrier is compromised. The outcomes of this study are thus very promising and suggest that clove bud oil is highly suitable to be applied as a natural sustainable alternative to modern medicine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials Sourced from Nature)
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