MedComm – Biomaterials and Applications最新文献

Cardiovascular diseases have become one of the leading causes of death and illness worldwide, posing significant challenges to global health. Due to the limited regenerative capacity of the heart, conventional approaches to treating heart diseases have demonstrated limited effectiveness. Therefore, leveraging biomaterials and biotechnologies in cardiac tissue engineering has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. This review aims to summarize the various characteristics of biomaterials in cardiac tissue engineering and their significance in addressing heart diseases. We categorize biomaterials into natural, synthetic, and conductive types based on their sources and unique properties, focusing on their applications in cardiac tissue engineering. We then present current applications of biomaterials in cardiac tissue engineering, followed by a discussion of existing challenges such as long-term material stability, biocompatibility, adverse reactions, and precise application methodologies. Additionally, we provide insights into potential strategies for overcoming these challenges, aiming to enhance the effectiveness and safety of biomaterials in cardiac tissue engineering applications. Finally, this review highlights the potential of emerging biomaterials and technologies, underscoring the critical role of interdisciplinary collaboration in driving innovation and progress in cardiac tissue engineering.

The effective treatment of skin wounds has long posed a significant challenge in the medical field, impacting patient comfort, quality of life, and the rate and outcome of wound healing. With continuous advancements in science and technology, novel materials have emerged, providing new possibilities for skin wound treatment. Among these, multifunctional hydrogels have shown considerable potential in promoting skin wound healing as a type of wound dressing material. This review systematically examines the progress in the application of multifunctional hydrogels in skin wound healing. Initially, the structure and composition of the skin are introduced. Subsequently, skin wounds are classified, and the wound-healing process is discussed in detail. Traditional and modern dressings are then categorized, with a particular emphasis on the characteristics and applications of hydrogel dressings. The various functions of hydrogels in skin wound healing, including antibacterial, antioxidant, hemostatic, adhesive, stimulus-responsive, and wound status monitoring, are reviewed. The paper concludes with a summary of the existing research gaps and provides insights into the future development directions of multifunctional hydrogels. This review aims to guide the preparation of hydrogel wound dressings and offer theoretical references for the exploration of next-generation functional hydrogels.

It is a great challenge to improve the properties of pure calcium sulfate bone cement. Here, two calcium sulfate hemihydrate powders with different aspect ratios were prepared, and three chitosan addition methods were adopted to investigate the effect on the surface and interface properties of calcium sulfate/chitosan composite bone cement. The results showed that it lacked chemical bond between chitosan and calcium sulfate, and the short rod calcium sulfate displayed better interface adhesion with chitosan owing to its smaller size, so it possessed shorter setting time, better compressive strength and slower degradation than the long rod calcium sulfate, while the biocompatibility had no remarkable difference. Moreover, chitosan solution as liquid phase was a better solidification mode than citric acid, and calcium sulfate/chitosan composite as solid phase was the worst mode because of poor interface compatibility. Conclusively, it was a simple, low-cost, and effective preparation process to choose short rod calcium sulfate powder as solid phase and 1 wt% chitosan solution as liquid phase, which could achieve calcium sulfate/chitosan composite bone cement with the best properties, including setting time, compressive strength, degradation rate, and biocompatibility, displaying a promising application in bone defect repair.

Cancer immunotherapy uses the body's immune system to fight tumors by restoring natural antitumor responses. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), characterized by their unique crystalline porous structures formed from metal ions linked by organic ligands, offer a promising solution. Recent studies have unveiled the potential of MOFs in cancer immunotherapy. The exceptional porosity and surface area, coupled with their extraordinary thermal and chemical stability, bring significant advantages for efficient drug loading and delivery of immunotherapeutic agents. The adaptability of MOFs further enhances the controlled release of immunotherapeutic drugs within target cells and increases tumor sensitivity to other therapies such as photodynamic, photothermal, and radiotherapy. This multifunctional carrier contributes to modulating the tumor microenvironment and reactivating antitumor immunity, providing a comprehensive strategy for cancer treatment. In this review, we summarize the applications of MOFs in immune checkpoint blockade, immunomodulator delivery, and cancer vaccine delivery, and discuss existing challenges in their use for immunotherapy. This discussion aims to offer insights for developing better treatments and enhancing the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a critical global health concern with the potential to lead to adverse outcomes, including infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Since PID is often caused by ascending vaginal infections or urinary tract infections, understanding the treatment of both is critical to preventing PID. Meanwhile, the emergence of drug-resistant and persistently infected strains poses a growing challenge. This review discusses current clinical treatments for the prevention of PID from the physiologic basis of PID, as well as summarizes the advantages and research progress of hydrogels in the prevention of PID. In contrast to conventional treatments, hydrogels serve as excellent vehicles for vaginal drug delivery, maintaining the presence of the drug at the target site and controlling its release. In the context of urinary tract infections (UTIs), hydrogels are employed primarily as coatings on catheters to prevent and treat catheter-associated UTIs. Finally, this review summarizes the limitations of hydrogels in PID prevention and future directions for development with the aim of elucidating avenues for clinical treatment of PID and informing further research.

Carbon dots (CDs)-based zero-dimensional nanomaterials with dimensions ranging from 1 to 10 nm have shown tremendous potential in the application of regenerative medicine, because of their unique physicochemical properties and favorable attributes like good biocompatibility, unique biological functions, low cost and high stability. These newly synthesized CDs-based nanomaterials could replace traditional semiconductor quantum dots, which have obvious toxicity drawbacks and higher costs. CDs not only show sustained fluorescent quality and biocompatibility, but also serve as superior carriers for drug delivery, as well as for bioimaging-guided detection of cells, drugs, and growth factors. So, they have been shown to play a role in various fields such as chemical and biological sensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, and photocatalysis. Thus, they are considered potential candidates for regenerative medicine applications. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of the classification of CDs, focusing on their formation mechanisms, micro-/nanostructures, and distinctive properties. We describe their properties and synthesis methods in detail. Furthermore, we systematically highlight recent remarkable advances in the applications of CDs in regenerative medicine, such as bone and cartilage repair, wound healing, nerve regeneration, and myocardial regeneration, are systematically highlighted. Finally, we discuss the key challenges that lie ahead, outline future research directions, and explore the prospects of CDs-based materials in regenerative medicine.

The rapid evolution of clinical medicine, materials science, and regenerative medicine has rendered traditional implantable scaffolds inadequate for addressing the complex therapeutic demands of various diseases. Currently, implantable scaffolds in clinical practice are mainly made of metal, with the disadvantages of high stiffness, poor toughness, and low deformation. This paper offers a thorough review of shape memory scaffolds (SMSs), emphasizing their distinctive self-recovery and adaptive functionalities that enhance compatibility with injured tissues, surpassing the capabilities of conventional metallic biomaterials. It delves into the limitations of current clinical scaffolds and the requisite performance metrics for effective implants and outlines the essential materials and fabrication methods for SMSs. Moreover, we enumerate the biomedical applications of SMMs with different response types, including thermology-responsive, water-responsive, and light-responsive. The discussion extends to the burgeoning applications of SMSs in biomedical engineering, including their utility in bone tissue engineering, cardiovascular stenting, tubular structures, and cardiac patches, which underscore their potential in minimally invasive procedures and dynamic tissue interactions. This review concludes with an analysis of current challenges and prospects, providing valuable insights for developing and applying SMSs in the biomedical sector.

Studies aiming to understand the effects of storage on whole blood (WB) clotting often rely on characterizing coagulation under static conditions. Minimal work has explored the effects of physiologic shear on clot formation and thrombolysis utilizing fractionated and reconstituted whole blood (rWB) products. WB was fractionated into platelet-free plasma, packed red blood cells, and platelets storing each component under its ideal conditions—including platelet cryopreservation. Recombination at their native ratios was accomplished over 91 days of storage and clotting/thrombolysis was analyzed utilizing thromboelastography and Chandler loop. rWB preserved clot strength through 91 days with minimal deviation from baseline, in contrast to WB stored at 4°C which experienced a significant decline by storage Day-42. Clot formation under shear for both rWB and WB led to increased clot mass through storage. No significant deviation from baseline was appreciated until Day 70 of storage in rWB. Increasing degrees of thrombolysis were seen in both groups, with rWB significantly deviating from baseline at Day 70. No significant changes in overall clot architecture occurred throughout storage and recombination. This fractionation and recombination protocol serves as a method to further develop reproducible in vitro clot analogs for preclinical thrombolytic therapy screening.