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Polymers
Special Issues
Smart Hydrogels in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
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Smart Hydrogels in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules, Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 July 2022) | Viewed by 7385

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Stefan Jockenhoevel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex), Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, 52056 Aachen, Germany
2. AMIBM-Aachen-Maastricht-Institute for Biobased Materials, Maastricht University, 186260 Geleen, The Netherlands
Interests: biohybrid and medical textiles; gas exchange membranes; pre-vascularization
Dr. Alicia Fernández-Colino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52078 Aachen, Germany
Interests: elastin-like polypeptides; silk; protein polymers; bioprocessing; tissue engineering; cardiovascular implants

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The limited capability of humans to self-heal and self-repair has been met with the development of engineered scaffolds to replace damaged tissue and organs. Of particular interest among tissue replacements are “smart hydrogels”. On one hand, the term “hydrogel” refers to the capability of a system to retain aqueous media while maintaining a defined three-dimensional structure. On the other hand, the term “smart” evokes the capability of the system to sense the environment in which it is located, and to experience changes accordingly.

A smart hydrogel intended as tissue replacement should interact with the complex environment of the human body (e.g., including parameters such as pH, temperature, biological cues), and subsequently elicit a response that can facilitate tissue restoration. In addition to the intrinsic milieu of the human body, external stimulation (e.g., electric and magnetic fields) can also be used as a tool to modulate the hydrogel performance.

The consecution of relevant “smart hydrogel”-based implants requires a deep understanding of (i) the intricate environment of the human body, and (ii) the “cross-talk” between the tissue replacement and the native tissue. An additional pivotal aspect to progress in this mission is the development of dedicated materials, able to accurately response to relevant stimuli with prospects of its application in tissue regeneration.

This Special Issue aims to highlight current progress in “smart hydrogel”-driven strategies in tissue restoration and to expand our understanding of how to modulate material–host interaction.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Jockenhoevel
Dr. Alicia Fernandez-Colino
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. Polymers 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 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.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5233 KiB  
Article
Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites
by Ikram El Maachi, Stavroula Kyriakou, Stephan Rütten, Alexander Kopp, Marius Köpf, Stefan Jockenhoevel and Alicia Fernández-Colino
Polymers 2022, 14(11), 2251; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14112251 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2235
Abstract
Fibrin is a very attractive material for the development of tissue-engineered scaffolds due to its exceptional bioactivity, versatility in the fabrication, affinity to cell mediators; and the possibility to isolate it from blood plasma, making it autologous. However, fibrin application is greatly limited [...] Read more.
Fibrin is a very attractive material for the development of tissue-engineered scaffolds due to its exceptional bioactivity, versatility in the fabrication, affinity to cell mediators; and the possibility to isolate it from blood plasma, making it autologous. However, fibrin application is greatly limited due to its low mechanical properties, fast degradation, and strong contraction in the presence of cells. In this study, we present a new strategy to overcome these drawbacks by combining it with another natural polymer: silk fibroin. Specifically, we fabricated biocomposites of fibrin (5 mg/mL) and silk fibroin (0.1, 0.5 and 1% w/w) by using a dual injection system, followed by ethanol annealing. The shear elastic modulus increased from 23 ± 5 Pa from fibrin alone, to 67 ± 22 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 0.1%, 241 ± 67 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 0.5% and 456 ± 32 Pa for fibrin/silk fibroin 1%. After culturing for 27 days with strong contractile cells (primary human arterial smooth muscle cells), fibrin/silk fibroin 0.5% and fibrin/silk fibroin 1% featured minimal cell-mediated contraction (ca. 15 and 5% respectively) in contrast with the large surface loss of the pure fibrin scaffolds (ca. 95%). Additionally, the composites enabled the formation of a proper endothelial cell layer after culturing with human primary endothelial cells under standard culture conditions. Overall, the fibrin/silk fibroin composites, manufactured within this study by a simple and scalable biofabrication approach, offer a promising avenue to boost the applicability of fibrin in tissue engineering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Hydrogels in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine)
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21 pages, 4563 KiB  
Article
3D-Printed Gelatin Methacrylate Scaffolds with Controlled Architecture and Stiffness Modulate the Fibroblast Phenotype towards Dermal Regeneration
by Rita I. R. Ibañez, Ronaldo J. F. C. do Amaral, Rui L. Reis, Alexandra P. Marques, Ciara M. Murphy and Fergal J. O’Brien
Polymers 2021, 13(15), 2510; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13152510 - 30 Jul 2021
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 4192
Abstract
Impaired skin wound healing due to severe injury often leads to dysfunctional scar tissue formation as a result of excessive and persistent myofibroblast activation, characterised by the increased expression of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Yet, despite extensive research [...] Read more.
Impaired skin wound healing due to severe injury often leads to dysfunctional scar tissue formation as a result of excessive and persistent myofibroblast activation, characterised by the increased expression of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Yet, despite extensive research on impaired wound healing and the advancement in tissue-engineered skin substitutes, scar formation remains a significant clinical challenge. This study aimed to first investigate the effect of methacrylate gelatin (GelMA) biomaterial stiffness on human dermal fibroblast behaviour in order to then design a range of 3D-printed GelMA scaffolds with tuneable structural and mechanical properties and understand whether the introduction of pores and porosity would support fibroblast activity, while inhibiting myofibroblast-related gene and protein expression. Results demonstrated that increasing GelMA stiffness promotes myofibroblast activation through increased fibrosis-related gene and protein expression. However, the introduction of a porous architecture by 3D printing facilitated healthy fibroblast activity, while inhibiting myofibroblast activation. A significant reduction was observed in the gene and protein production of αSMA and the expression of ECM-related proteins, including fibronectin I and collagen III, across the range of porous 3D-printed GelMA scaffolds. These results show that the 3D-printed GelMA scaffolds have the potential to improve dermal skin healing, whilst inhibiting fibrosis and scar formation, therefore potentially offering a new treatment for skin repair. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Hydrogels in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine)
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