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Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications
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Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioorganic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 14828

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Maria del Carmen Morán

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Departament de Bioquímica i Fisiologia-Secció de Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l’Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII 27-31, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
2. Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia-IN2UB, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal, 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: biocompatibility; biomacromolecules; cancer; drug delivery; drug release; internalization; in vitro cytotoxicity; loading efficiency; nanoparticles; nucleic acids; selective toxicity; surface modification; superhydrophobicity; targeting; therapeutical applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The very slow progress in the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment of severe diseases has suggested a growing need for a multidisciplinary approach to the design of smart materials interacting with biological systems. Delivering drugs safely and efficiently; preventing, detecting, and treating diseases and/or assisting the body in healing; and engineering functional tissues can be achieved by designing materials whose properties can be significantly modified in response to changing conditions in their surroundings. Smart materials are considered “reactive materials”. Their properties can be changed via exposure to stimuli such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, and electric magnetic fields.

This Special Issue aims to collect original papers and/or review papers that contribute to the area of polymeric and soft matter biomaterials covering their synthesis, physicochemical properties, and evaluation of biological responses. Applications covered will include gene/drug delivery and antitumor therapy, antimicrobial and wound healing materials, and tissue engineering.

Dr. Maria del Carmen Morán Badenas
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. Molecules 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.

Keywords

  • Drug delivery
  • Nanoparticles
  • Polyelectrolytes
  • Self-assembly
  • Soft matter
  • Stimulus-responsive systems
  • Tissue engineering
  • Wound healing

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3670 KiB  
Article
Mammalian Cell Spheroids on Mixed Organic–Inorganic Superhydrophobic Coating
by Michele Ferrari, Francesca Cirisano and M. Carmen Morán
Molecules 2022, 27(4), 1247; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041247 - 12 Feb 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2301
Abstract
Three-dimensional cell culture has become a reliable method for reproducing in vitro cellular growth in more realistic physiological conditions. The surface hydrophobicity strongly influences the promotion of cell aggregate formation. In particular, for spheroid formation, highly water-repellent coatings seem to be required for [...] Read more.
Three-dimensional cell culture has become a reliable method for reproducing in vitro cellular growth in more realistic physiological conditions. The surface hydrophobicity strongly influences the promotion of cell aggregate formation. In particular, for spheroid formation, highly water-repellent coatings seem to be required for the significant effects of the process. In this work, surfaces at different wettability have been compared to observe their influence on the growth and promotion of aggregates of representative mammalian cell lines, both tumoral and non-tumoral (3T3, HaCat and MCF-7 cell lines). The effect of increased hydrophobicity from TCPS to agarose hydrogel to mixed organic–inorganic superhydrophobic (SH) coating has been investigated by optical and fluorescence microscopy, and by 3D confocal profilometry, in a time scale of 24 h. The results show the role of less wettable substrates in inducing the formation of spheroid-like cell aggregates at a higher degree of sphericity for the studied cell lines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications)
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15 pages, 4172 KiB  
Article
Thermo- and pH-Responsive Gelatin/Polyphenolic Tannin/Graphene Oxide Hydrogels for Efficient Methylene Blue Delivery
by Ariel C. de Oliveira, Paulo R. Souza, Bruno H. Vilsinski, Manuel E. G. Winkler, Marcos L. Bruschi, Eduardo Radovanovic, Edvani C. Muniz, Wilker Caetano, Artur J. M. Valente and Alessandro F. Martins
Molecules 2021, 26(15), 4529; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26154529 - 27 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2855
Abstract
Gelatin (GE), amino-functionalized polyphenolic tannin derivative (TN), and graphene oxide (GO) were associated to yield thermo- and pH-responsive hydrogels for the first time. Durable hydrogel assemblies for drug delivery purposes were developed using the photosensitizer methylene blue (MB) as a drug model. The [...] Read more.
Gelatin (GE), amino-functionalized polyphenolic tannin derivative (TN), and graphene oxide (GO) were associated to yield thermo- and pH-responsive hydrogels for the first time. Durable hydrogel assemblies for drug delivery purposes were developed using the photosensitizer methylene blue (MB) as a drug model. The cooling GE/TN blends provide brittle physical assemblies. To overcome this disadvantage, different GO contents (between 0.31% and 1.02% wt/wt) were added to the GE/TN blend at 89.7/10.3 wt/wt. FTIR and RAMAN spectroscopy analyses characterized the materials, indicating GO presence in the hydrogels. Incorporation studies revealed a total MB (0.50 mg/mL) incorporation into the GE/TN-GO hydrogel matrices. Additionally, the proposed systems present a mechanical behavior similar to gel. The GO presence in the hydrogel matrices increased the elastic modulus from 516 to 1650 Pa. SEM revealed that hydrogels containing MB present higher porosity with interconnected pores. Dissolution and swelling degree studies revealed less stability of the GE/TN-GO-MB hydrogels in SGF medium (pH 1.2) than SIF (pH 6.8). The degradation increased in SIF with the GO content, making the polymeric matrices more hydrophilic. MB release studies revealed a process controlled by Fickian diffusion. Our results point out the pH-responsible behavior of mechanically reinforced GE/TN-GO-MB hydrogels for drug delivery systems purposes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications)
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18 pages, 4019 KiB  
Article
Structure and State of Water in Branched N-Vinylpyrrolidone Copolymers as Carriers of a Hydrophilic Biologically Active Compound
by Svetlana V. Kurmaz, Natalia V. Fadeeva, Vladislav M. Ignat’ev, Vladimir A. Kurmaz, Sergei A. Kurochkin and Nina S. Emel’yanova
Molecules 2020, 25(24), 6015; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25246015 - 18 Dec 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2579
Abstract
Hydrated copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone (VP) with triethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a promising platform for biologically active compounds (BAC) were investigated by different physical chemical methods (dynamic light scattering, infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry) and the quantum chemical modeling [...] Read more.
Hydrated copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone (VP) with triethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a promising platform for biologically active compounds (BAC) were investigated by different physical chemical methods (dynamic light scattering, infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry) and the quantum chemical modeling of water coordination by the copolymers in a solution. According to the quantum chemical simulation, one to two water molecules can coordinate on one O-atom of the lactam ring of VP units in the copolymer. Besides the usual terminal coordination, the water molecule can form bridges to bind two adjacent C=O groups of the lactam rings of VP units. In addition to the first hydration shell, the formation of a second one is also possible due to the chain addition of water molecules, and its structure depends on a mutual orientation of C=O groups. We showed that N,N-dimethylbiguanidine hydrochloride (metformin) as a frontline drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus can be associated in aqueous solutions with free and hydrated C=O groups of the lactam rings of VP units in studied copolymers. Based on the characteristics of the H-bonds, we believe that the level of the copolymer hydration does not affect the behavior and biological activity of this drug, but the binding of metformin with the amphiphilic copolymer will delight in the penetration of a hydrophilic drug across a cell membrane to increase its bioavailability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications)
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Review

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22 pages, 3815 KiB  
Review
Advanced Materials Based on Nanosized Hydroxyapatite
by Ramón Rial, Michael González-Durruthy, Zhen Liu and Juan M. Ruso
Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3190; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113190 - 26 May 2021
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 5695
Abstract
The development of new materials based on hydroxyapatite has undergone a great evolution in recent decades due to technological advances and development of computational techniques. The focus of this review is the various attempts to improve new hydroxyapatite-based materials. First, we comment on [...] Read more.
The development of new materials based on hydroxyapatite has undergone a great evolution in recent decades due to technological advances and development of computational techniques. The focus of this review is the various attempts to improve new hydroxyapatite-based materials. First, we comment on the most used processing routes, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. We will now focus on other routes, less common due to their specificity and/or recent development. We also include a block dedicated to the impact of computational techniques in the development of these new systems, including: QSAR, DFT, Finite Elements of Machine Learning. In the following part we focus on the most innovative applications of these materials, ranging from medicine to new disciplines such as catalysis, environment, filtration, or energy. The review concludes with an outlook for possible new research directions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications)
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