Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pei-Chun Wong

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Guest Editor

Graduate Institute of Biomedical Optomechatronics, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
Interests: biodegradable materials; magnesium alloy; metallic biomaterials; tissue engineering; regenerative medicine

Dr. Jia-Lin Wu

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
2. Department of Orthopedics, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Interests: orthopedics; sports medicine; biomaterials; biomechanics; tissue engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Functional biomaterials have been widely used in the tissue engineering research field. Different material design strategies will be used to meet specific medical application areas. To be considered for use in medical applications, biomaterials must be examined not only in terms of their physical or chemical properties but also in terms of their biocompatibility. For bone tissue engineering, a successful material design requires an understanding of the structure and composition of bone tissue to design suitable biomaterial with several properties to promote tissue healing.

This Special Issue will collect papers related to recent developments in biomaterial design for bone tissue engineering applications. Topics will include but not be limited to natural materials, biomimetic natural materials, and synthetic materials. Contributions on material design and biomedical application for bone tissue repair and regeneration are welcome.

Dr. Pei-Chun Wong
Dr. Jia-Lin Wu
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. 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

biomaterials
biocompatibility
tissue engineering
material design
biomedical application

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 8622 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Mechanical and Functional Improvement of β-TCP Scaffolds for Use in Bone Tissue Engineering

by Felix Umrath, Lukas-Frank Schmitt, Sophie-Maria Kliesch, Christine Schille, Jürgen Geis-Gerstorfer, Elina Gurewitsch, Kathleen Bahrini, Fabian Peters, Siegmar Reinert and Dorothea Alexander

J. Funct. Biomater. 2023, 14(8), 427; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jfb14080427 - 16 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1459

Abstract

Autologous bone transplantation is still considered as the gold standard therapeutic option for bone defect repair. The alternative tissue engineering approaches have to combine good hardiness of biomaterials whilst allowing good stem cell functionality. To become more useful for load-bearing applications, mechanical properties of calcium phosphate materials have to be improved. In the present study, we aimed to reduce the brittleness of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). For this purpose, we used three polymers (PDL-02, -02a, -04) for coatings and compared resulting mechanical and degradation properties as well as their impact on seeded periosteal stem cells. Mechanical properties of coated and uncoated β-TCP scaffolds were analyzed. In addition, degradation kinetics analyses of the polymers employed and of the polymer-coated scaffolds were performed. For bioactivity assessment, the scaffolds were seeded with jaw periosteal cells (JPCs) and cultured under untreated and osteogenic conditions. JPC adhesion/proliferation, gene and protein expression by immunofluorescent staining of embedded scaffolds were analyzed. Raman spectroscopy measurements gave an insight into material properties and cell mineralization. PDL-coated β-TCP scaffolds showed a significantly higher flexural strength in comparison to that of uncoated scaffolds. Degradation kinetics showed considerable differences in pH and electrical conductivity of the three different polymer types, while the core material β-TCP was able to stabilize pH and conductivity. Material differences seemed to have an impact on JPC proliferation and differentiation potential, as reflected by the expression of osteogenic marker genes. A homogenous cell colonialization of coated and uncoated scaffolds was detected. Most interesting from a bone engineer’s point of view, the PDL-04 coating enabled detection of cell matrix mineralization by Raman spectroscopy. This was not feasible with uncoated scaffolds, due to intercalating effects of the β-TCP material and the JPC-formed calcium phosphate. In conclusion, the use of PDL-04 coating improved the mechanical properties of the β-TCP scaffold and promoted cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation, whilst allowing detection of cell mineralization within the ceramic core material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bone Tissue Engineering: Material Design and Applications)

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Review

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27 pages, 1719 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of the Application of Natural and Synthetic Scaffolds in Bone Regeneration

by Sok Kuan Wong, Michelle Min Fang Yee, Kok-Yong Chin and Soelaiman Ima-Nirwana

J. Funct. Biomater. 2023, 14(5), 286; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jfb14050286 - 20 May 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2451

Abstract

The management of bone defects is complicated by the presence of clinical conditions, such as critical-sized defects created by high-energy trauma, tumour resection, infection, and skeletal abnormalities, whereby the bone regeneration capacity is compromised. A bone scaffold is a three-dimensional structure matrix serving as a template to be implanted into the defects to promote vascularisation, growth factor recruitment, osteogenesis, osteoconduction, and mechanical support. This review aims to summarise the types and applications of natural and synthetic scaffolds currently adopted in bone tissue engineering. The merits and caveats of natural and synthetic scaffolds will be discussed. A naturally derived bone scaffold offers a microenvironment closer to in vivo conditions after decellularisation and demineralisation, exhibiting excellent bioactivity, biocompatibility, and osteogenic properties. Meanwhile, an artificially produced bone scaffold allows for scalability and consistency with minimal risk of disease transmission. The combination of different materials to form scaffolds, along with bone cell seeding, biochemical cue incorporation, and bioactive molecule functionalisation, can provide additional or improved scaffold properties, allowing for a faster bone repair rate in bone injuries. This is the direction for future research in the field of bone growth and repair. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bone Tissue Engineering: Material Design and Applications)

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