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Biomaterials for Biosensing and Other Biomedical Applications

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 8366

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ana Dora Rodrigues Pontinha

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Guest Editor

Chemical Process Engineering and Forest Products Research Centre, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: bioelectrochemistry; redox flow batteries; aerogel, biomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Patrícia Alves

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemical Process Engineering and Forest Products Research Centre (CIEPQPF), University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: surface modification; smart materials; drug delivery; biomaterials; polymers; liposomes
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Dr. Ana-Maria Chiorcea-Paquim

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Guest Editor

Centre for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes (CEMMPRE), Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: electrochemitry; nanotechnology; atomic force microscopy; biosensors; sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is dedicated to the topic Biomaterials for Biosensing and Other Biomedical Applications. Recently, there has been a great deal of focus on understanding and engineering biomaterial interfaces, with functional perspectives in different bio-sectors of the modern world. The key scientific advances in biotechnology have presented next generation concepts related to biomaterials. Biomaterials can be used in contact with the human body in the biomedical field, but also as scaffolds for biosensor devices, implants, tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, as well as antibacterial and dental structures. Biomaterials provide unique opportunities to engineer different biological, polymeric and ceramic nanocomposites coupled with electrical and sensing components, to design efficient sensing prototypes. This new generation of biosensors, with enhanced sensitivity, selectivity, reproducibility and stability, is finding diverse analytical applications in medicine, e.g. for disease diagnosis, point-of-care monitoring the treatment and disease progression or the development of pharmaceutical drugs.

This Special Issue will focus on original research articles, short communication and review articles, addressing all aspects of the biomaterials field, with a highly interdisciplinary scope, from the biomaterials synthesis, characterization and testing, to their biomedical applications, with special emphasis on biosensor applications. This Special Issue welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics: nanostructured biomaterials and nanoparticles, biomedical coatings, new generation of electrochemical, optical, thermal, and piezoelectric biosensors based on biomaterials, wearable sensors, and advanced materials for biomedical sensing.

Dr. Ana Dora Rodrigues Pontinha
Dr. Patrícia Alves
Dr. Ana-Maria Chiorcea-Paquim
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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
biosensors
bioengineering
nanostructured biomaterials
biomedical engineering
point-of-care

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 13689 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Silica Aerogel-Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

by Ana Dora Rodrigues Pontinha, Beatriz Barbosa Moreira, Bruna Lopes Melo, Duarte de Melo-Diogo, Ilídio Joaquim Correia and Patrícia Alves

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(12), 10128; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241210128 - 14 Jun 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2645

Abstract

Silica aerogel is a material composed of SiO₂ that has exceptional physical properties when utilized for tissue engineering applications. Poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester that has been widely used for biomedical applications, namely as sutures, drug carriers, and implantable scaffolds. Herein, a hybrid composite of silica aerogel, prepared with two different silica precursors, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) or methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), and PCL was synthesized to fulfil bone regeneration requirements. The developed porous hybrid biocomposite scaffolds were extensively characterized, regarding their physical, morphological, and mechanical features. The results showed that their properties were relevant, leading to composites with different properties. The water absorption capacity and mass loss were evaluated as well as the influence of the different hybrid scaffolds on osteoblasts’ viability and morphology. Both hybrid scaffolds showed a hydrophobic character (with water contact angles higher than 90°), low swelling (maximum of 14%), and low mass loss (1–7%). hOB cells exposed to the different silica aerogel-PCL scaffolds remained highly viable, even for long periods of incubation (7 days). Considering the obtained results, the produced hybrid scaffolds may be good candidates for future application in bone tissue engineering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials for Biosensing and Other Biomedical Applications)

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20 pages, 4436 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Potential of Royal-Jelly-Incorporated Hydrogel Dressings as Innovative Wound Care Materials

by Sonia Kudłacik-Kramarczyk, Marcel Krzan, Mateusz Jamroży, Alicja Przybyłowicz and Anna Drabczyk

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(10), 8738; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24108738 - 14 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1879 | Correction

Abstract

The development of multifunctional dressing materials with beneficial properties for wound healing has become a recent focus of research. Many studies are being conducted to incorporate active substances into dressings to positively impact wound healing processes. Researchers have investigated various natural additives, including plant extracts and apiproducts such as royal jelly, to enhance the properties of dressings. In this study, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based hydrogel dressings modified with royal jelly were developed and analyzed for their sorption ability, wettability, surface morphology, degradation, and mechanical properties. The results showed that the royal jelly and crosslinking agent content had an impact on the physicochemical properties of the hydrogels and their potential for use as innovative dressing materials. This study investigated the swelling behavior, surface morphology, and mechanical properties of hydrogel materials containing royal jelly. The majority of the tested materials showed a gradual increase in swelling ratio with time. The pH of the incubated fluids varied depending on the type of fluid used, with distilled water having the greatest decrease in pH due to the release of organic acids from the royal jelly. The hydrogel samples had a relatively homogeneous surface, and no dependence between composition and surface morphology was observed. Natural additives like royal jelly can modify the mechanical properties of hydrogels, increasing their elongation percentage while decreasing their tensile strength. These findings suggest possible future applications in various fields requiring high flexibility and elasticity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials for Biosensing and Other Biomedical Applications)

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Review

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28 pages, 3856 KiB

Open AccessReview

Bioengineered Bovine Papillomavirus L1 Protein Virus-like Particle (VLP) Vaccines for Enhanced Induction of CD8 T Cell Responses through Cross-Priming

by Raphael P. Viscidi, Treva Rowley and Ioannis Bossis

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(12), 9851; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24129851 - 7 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2491

Abstract

Safe and effective T cell vaccines are needed for the treatment or prevention of cancers as well as infectious agents where vaccines for neutralizing antibodies have performed poorly. Recent research highlights an important role for tissue-resident memory T cells (T_RM cells) in protective immunity and the role of a subset of dendritic cells that are capable of cross-priming for the induction of T_RM cells. However, efficient vaccine technologies that operate through cross-priming and induce robust CD8+ T cell responses are lacking. We developed a platform technology by genetically engineering the bovine papillomavirus L1 major capsid protein to insert a polyglutamic acid/cysteine motif in place of wild-type amino acids in the HI loop. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are formed by self-assembly in insect cells infected with a recombinant baculovirus. Polyarginine/cysteine-tagged antigens are linked to the VLP by a reversible disulfide bond. The VLP possesses self-adjuvanting properties due to the immunostimulatory activity of papillomavirus VLPs. Polyionic VLP vaccines induce robust CD8+ T cell responses in peripheral blood and tumor tissues. A prostate cancer polyionic VLP vaccine was more efficacious than other vaccines and immunotherapies for the treatment of prostate cancer in a physiologically relevant murine model and successfully treated more advanced diseases than the less efficacious technologies. The immunogenicity of polyionic VLP vaccines is dependent on particle size, reversible linkage of the antigen to the VLP, and an interferon type 1 and Toll-like receptor (TLR)3/7-dependent mechanism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials for Biosensing and Other Biomedical Applications)

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