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Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2023) | Viewed by 12851

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Touseef Amna

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Guest Editor

Department of Biology, College of Science, Albaha University, P.O. Box 1988, Albaha 65799, Saudi Arabia
Interests: design and synthesis of biocompatible composite nanofibrous scaffolds via electrospinning processes; synthesis of hybrid materials, biomimetic materials and nanoparticles; physicochemical characterization of biomaterials or materials; diverse biological applications such as cell culture, tissue engineering and biomedical and antimicrobial synthesized materials
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Dr. M. Shamshi Hassan

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Department of Chemistry, Albaha University, Albaha, Saudi Arabia
Interests: nanobiotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioinspired materials are human-made imitations resembling innate matter in characteristics, organization and purpose. In other words, biomaterial can be engineered to acquire the outline of an entire system or of the component of a system and interact with a living system during a therapeutic and diagnostic process. Representative examples of bioinspired materials are photonic materials mimicking photosynthesis, composites mimicking nacre, etc. This Special Issue focuses on a variety of physical, biological and chemical disciplines which support the synthesis of bioinspired composites or biocomposites, as well their applications. Some of the fields to be covered are synthesis and characterization of biomaterials, nanofibers, nanocomposites, nanoparticles, tissue engineering, antimicrobial activities, biomedical screening and toxicology evaluation of biofabricated materials.

This Special Issue aims to cover the state of the art of biomimetic materials that pursue a planned pattern derivative of the natural world.

The Special Issue is to provide a peer-reviewed forum for the publication of original papers, review articles, opinion papers and short communications. The scope of this Special Issue aims to cover biomedical and toxicology aspects of biofabricated materials. We welcome contributions on the following topics:

Design and synthesis of bionanocomposites.
Synthesis of hybrid materials using various procedures.
Detailed physicochemical characterization of biomaterials and materials.
Diverse biological applications such as cell culture, tissue engineering, biomedical and antimicrobial screening of synthesized materials.
Applications of bioinspired materials in bioremediation.

Prof. Dr. Touseef Amna
Dr. M. Shamshi Hassan
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. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2900 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

Nanocomposites
Nanofibers
Biomimetic materials
Tissue engineering
Antimicrobial
Bioremediation
Biomedical
Biofabrication
Characterization

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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6 pages, 230 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Nanofibers and Nanotextured Materials: Design Insights, Bactericidal Mechanisms and Environmental Advances

by Touseef Amna and M. Shamshi Hassan

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(21), 2891; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano13212891 - 31 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 887

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is rising and poses a serious threat to human health on a worldwide scale. It can make it more difficult to cure common infections, raise medical expenditures, and increase mortality. In order to combat the development of biofilms and treat fatal bacterial infections, multifunctional polymeric nanofibers or nanotextured materials with specific structural features and special physiochemical capabilities have become a crucial tool. Due to the increased antibiotic resistance of many diseases, nanofibers with antibacterial activity are essential. Electrospinning is a flexible process able to produce fine fibers with specified properties by modifying variables such as the concentration of the solution, the feed flow, and the electric voltage. Substantial advancements have been made regarding the formation of nanofibers or nanotextured materials for a variety of applications, along with the development of electrospinning techniques in recent years. Using well-defined antimicrobial nanoparticles, encapsulating traditional therapeutic agents, plant-based bioactive agents, and pure compounds in polymer nanofibers has resulted in outstanding antimicrobial activity and has aided in curing deadly microbial infections. A plethora of studies have revealed that electrospinning is an effective technique for the production of antimicrobial fibers for the environmental, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and food sectors. Nevertheless, numerous studies have also demonstrated that the surface characteristics of substrates, such as holes, fibers, and ridges at the nanoscale, have an impact on cell proliferation, adhesion, and orientation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials)

Research

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19 pages, 5084 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Green Nanoformulations of Polyvinylpyrrolidone-Capped Metal Nanoparticles: A Study at the Hybrid Interface with Biomimetic Cell Membranes and In Vitro Cell Models

by Alice Foti, Luana Calì, Salvatore Petralia and Cristina Satriano

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(10), 1624; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano13101624 - 12 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1560

Abstract

Noble metal nanoparticles (NP) with intrinsic antiangiogenic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties have great potential as potent chemotherapeutics, due to their unique features, including plasmonic properties for application in photothermal therapy, and their capability to slow down the migration/invasion speed of cancer cells and then suppress metastasis. In this work, gold (Au), silver (Ag), and palladium (Pd) NP were synthesized by a green redox chemistry method with the reduction of the metal salt precursor with glucose in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as stabilizing and capping agent. The physicochemical properties of the PVP-capped NP were investigated by UV-visible (UV-vis) and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopies, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), to scrutinize the optical features and the interface between the metal surface and the capping polymer, the hydrodynamic size, and the morphology, respectively. Biophysical studies with model cell membranes were carried out by using laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSM) with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) techniques. To this purpose, artificial cell membranes of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) made with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine (POPC) dye-labeled with 7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl (NBD, FRET donor) and/or lissamine rhodamine B sulfonyl (Rh, FRET acceptor) were prepared. Proof-of-work in vitro cellular experiments were carried out with prostate cancer cells (PC-3 line) in terms of cytotoxicity, cell migration (wound scratch assay), NP cellular uptake, and cytoskeleton actin perturbation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials)

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14 pages, 6154 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Bactericidal and Antiviral Bionic Metalized Nanocoatings

by Mikhail Kryuchkov, Jozef Adamcik and Vladimir L. Katanaev

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(11), 1868; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12111868 - 30 May 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2232

Abstract

In diverse living organisms, bionanocoatings provide multiple functionalities, to the surfaces they cover. We have, previously, identified the molecular mechanisms of Turing-based self-assembly of insect corneal nanocoatings and developed forward-engineering approaches to construct multifunctional soft bionic nanocoatings, encompassing the Drosophila protein Retinin. Here, we expand the versatility of the bionic nanocoatings, by identifying and using diverse Retinin-like proteins and different methods of their metallization, using nickel, silver, and copper ions. Comparative assessment, of the resulting bactericidal, antiviral, and cytotoxic properties, identifies the best protocols, to construct safe and anti-infective metalized bionic nanocoatings. Upscaled application of these protocols, to various public surfaces, may represent a safe and economic approach to limit hazardous infections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials)

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23 pages, 13317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

ZnO Nanocomposites of Juniperus procera and Dodonaea viscosa Extracts as Antiproliferative and Antimicrobial Agents

by Maha D. Alghamdi, Syed Nazreen, Nada M. Ali and Touseef Amna

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(4), 664; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12040664 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2333

Abstract

Cancer and microbial infections constitute a major burden and leading cause of death globally. The development of therapeutic compounds from natural products is considered a cornerstone in drug discovery. Therefore, in the present study, the ethanolic extract and the fractions of Dodonaea viscosa and Juniperus procera were evaluated for anticancer and antimicrobial activities. It was found that two fractions, JM and DC, exhibited promising anticancer and antimicrobial activities. The JM and DC fractions were further modified into ZnO nanocomposites, which were characterized by SEM, XRD, TGA, and EDX. It was noted that the synthesized nanocomposites displayed remarkable enhancement in cytotoxicity as well as antibacterial activity. Nanocomposite DC–ZnO NRs exhibited cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ values of 16.4 ± 4 (HepG2) and 29.07 ± 2.7 μg/mL (HCT-116) and JM–ZnO NRs with IC₅₀ values of 12.2 ± 10.27 (HepG2) and 24.1 ± 3.0 μg/mL (HCT-116). In addition, nanocomposites of DC (i.e., DC–ZnO NRs) and JM (i.e., JM–ZnO NRs) displayed excellent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with MICs of 2.5 and 1.25 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, these fractions and nanocomposites were tested for cytotoxicity against normal fibroblasts and were found to be non-toxic. GC-MS analysis of the active fractions were also carried out to discover the possible phytochemicals that are responsible for these activities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials)

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39 pages, 6820 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Successful Dendrimer and Liposome-Based Strategies to Solubilize an Antiproliferative Pyrazole Otherwise Not Clinically Applicable

by Silvana Alfei, Andrea Spallarossa, Matteo Lusardi and Guendalina Zuccari

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(2), 233; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12020233 - 11 Jan 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 1889

Abstract

Water-soluble formulations of the pyrazole derivative 3-(4-chlorophenyl)-5-(4-nitrophenylamino)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitrile (CR232), which were proven to have in vitro antiproliferative effects on different cancer cell lines, were prepared by two diverse nanotechnological approaches. Importantly, without using harmful organic solvents or additives potentially toxic to humans, CR232 was firstly entrapped in a biodegradable fifth-generation dendrimer containing lysine (G5K). CR232-G5K nanoparticles (CR232-G5K NPs) were obtained with high loading (DL%) and encapsulation efficiency (EE%), which showed a complex but quantitative release profile governed by Weibull kinetics. Secondly, starting from hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol, we prepared biocompatible CR232-loaded liposomes (CR232-SUVs), which displayed DL% and EE% values increasing with the increase in the lipids/CR232 ratio initially adopted and showed a constant prolonged release profile ruled by zero-order kinetics. When relevant, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments, as well as potentiometric titrations completed the characterization of the prepared NPs. CR232-G5K NPs were 2311-fold more water-soluble than the pristine CR232, and the CR232-SUVs with the highest DL% were 1764-fold more soluble than the untreated CR232, thus establishing the success of both our strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials)

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18 pages, 3129 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Natural Clay as a Low-Cost Adsorbent for Crystal Violet Dye Removal and Antimicrobial Activity

by Ali Q. Alorabi, Mallick Shamshi Hassan, Mohammad Mahboob Alam, Sami A. Zabin, Nawaf I. Alsenani and Neazar Essam Baghdadi

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(11), 2789; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11112789 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 2450

Abstract

This investigation aimed at evaluating the efficiency of micro and nanoclays as a low-cost material for the removal of crystal violet (CV) dye from an aqueous solution. The impacts of various factors (contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage, temperature, initial dye concentration) on the adsorption process have been taken into consideration. Six micro and nanoclay samples were obtained by treating clay materials collected from different locations in the Albaha region, Saudi Arabia. Out of the six tested micro and nanoclays materials, two (NCQ1 and NCQ3) were selected based on the highest adsorption efficiency for complete experimentation. The morphology and structure of the selected micro and nanoclay adsorbents were characterized by various techniques: SEM-EDX, FTIR, XRF, XRD, and ICP-MS. The XRF showed that the main oxides of both nanoclays were SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, K₂O, CaO, and MgO, and the rest were impurities. All the parameters affecting the adsorption of CV dye were optimized in a batch system, and the optimized working conditions were an equilibrium time of 120 min, a dose of 30 mg, a temperature of 25 °C, and an initial CV concentration of 400 mg/L. The equilibrium data were tested using nonlinear isotherm and kinetic models, which showed that the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics gave the best fit with the experimental data, indicating a physico-chemical interaction occurred between the CV dye and both selected micro and nanoclay surfaces. The maximum adsorption capacities of NCQ1 and NCQ3 adsorbents were 206.73 and 203.66 mg/g, respectively, at 25 °C. The thermodynamic factors revealed that the CV dye adsorption of both micro and nanoclays was spontaneous and showed an exothermic process. Therefore, the examined natural micro and nanoclays adsorbents are promising effective adsorbents for the elimination of CV dye from an aqueous environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prospects of Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials)

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