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Application of Polymers in Bioengineering
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Application of Polymers in Bioengineering

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 June 2023) | Viewed by 20805

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chi-Shuo Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
Interests: cell mechanics; marine gel; biophotoinics
Prof. Dr. Wei-Chun Chin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, University of California at Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
Interests: application of polymer physics; microfabrication and engineering principles to biological systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

An organism is made up of different biological polymers, and the homeostasis of life essentially relies on the interactions occurring between polymeric molecules at different levels.

Polymers, such as nucleic acid, proteins, and polysaccharides, have diverse structures with various biological functions. Within the cells, the interactions occurring between polymeric molecules serve as the foundations of physiological reactions, such as signaling, metabolism, and cellular organization.

For instance, the extracellular matrix, which is composed of different proteins, is an indispensable part of multicellular organization. Interestingly, a similar polymeric matrix can also be found as the biofilm of microbial communities. 

In addition to natural polymers, with the rapid development of biotechnology, engineered polymers have attracted significant amounts of attention in biomedical fields. To recapture the characteristics of the microenvironment in physiology, polymeric composites are broadly applied in tissue engineering and diagnosis assays.  Engineered polymeric materials are also widely used in nanomedicine and bio-implantations.

Herein, in this Special Issue, we would like to highlight the diverse roles played by polymers in bioengineering; we hope to inspire fundamental research and further applications.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • The dynamic interactions of polymeric molecules, such as nucleic acid and proteins, and their applications in bioengineering.
  • The applications of polymeric materials in tissue engineering, biosensors, and nanomedicine.
  • Studies regarding biofilm formation or biofouling.
  • Theoretical models of biological samples, such as biomolecules, cells, and microbial interactions.

Dr. Chi-Shuo Chen
Prof. Dr. Wei-Chun Chin
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.

Keywords

  • biomaterial
  • biofilm
  • soft matter
  • biofouling
  • cell mechanics
  • biosensors
  • microfluidics
  • marine polymer
  • ECM
  • polymer fabrication

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 6856 KiB  
Article
Size-Dependent Diffusion and Dispersion of Particles in Mucin
by Parveen Kumar, Joshua Tamayo, Ruei-Feng Shiu, Wei-Chun Chin and Arvind Gopinath
Polymers 2023, 15(15), 3241; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15153241 - 29 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1926
Abstract
Mucus, composed significantly of glycosylated mucins, is a soft and rheologically complex material that lines respiratory, reproductive, and gastrointestinal tracts in mammals. Mucus may present as a gel, as a highly viscous fluid, or as a viscoelastic fluid. Mucus acts as a barrier [...] Read more.
Mucus, composed significantly of glycosylated mucins, is a soft and rheologically complex material that lines respiratory, reproductive, and gastrointestinal tracts in mammals. Mucus may present as a gel, as a highly viscous fluid, or as a viscoelastic fluid. Mucus acts as a barrier to the transport of harmful microbes and inhaled atmospheric pollutants to underlying cellular tissue. Studies on mucin gels have provided critical insights into the chemistry of the gels, their swelling kinetics, and the diffusion and permeability of molecular constituents such as water. The transport and dispersion of micron and sub-micron particles in mucin gels and solutions, however, differs from the motion of small molecules since the much larger tracers may interact with microstructure of the mucin network. Here, using brightfield and fluorescence microscopy, high-speed particle tracking, and passive microrheology, we study the thermally driven stochastic movement of 0.5–5.0 μm tracer particles in 10% mucin solutions at neutral pH, and in 10% mucin mixed with industrially relevant dust; specifically, unmodified limestone rock dust, modified limestone, and crystalline silica. Particle trajectories are used to calculate mean square displacements and the displacement probability distributions; these are then used to assess tracer diffusion and transport. Complex moduli are concomitantly extracted using established microrheology techniques. We find that under the conditions analyzed, the reconstituted mucin behaves as a weak viscoelastic fluid rather than as a viscoelastic gel. For small- to moderately sized tracers with a diameter of lessthan 2 μm, we find that effective diffusion coefficients follow the classical Stokes–Einstein relationship. Tracer diffusivity in dust-laden mucin is surprisingly larger than in bare mucin. Probability distributions of mean squared displacements suggest that heterogeneity, transient trapping, and electrostatic interactions impact dispersion and overall transport, especially for larger tracers. Our results motivate further exploration of physiochemical and rheological mechanisms mediating particle transport in mucin solutions and gels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Polymers in Bioengineering)
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12 pages, 1947 KiB  
Article
Nanotopography of Polystyrene/Poly(methyl methacrylate) for the Promotion of Patient Specific Von Willebrand Factor Entrapment and Platelet Adhesion in a Whole Blood Microfluidic Assay
by Joanna Ward, Eimear Dunne, Ingmar Schoen, Adrian R. Boyd, Dermot Kenny and Brian J. Meenan
Polymers 2023, 15(6), 1580; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15061580 - 22 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1979
Abstract
Platelet function testing is essential for the diagnosis of patients with bleeding disorders. Specifically, there is a need for a whole blood assay that is capable of analysing platelet behaviour in contact with a patient-specific autologous von Willebrand factor (vWF), under physiologically relevant [...] Read more.
Platelet function testing is essential for the diagnosis of patients with bleeding disorders. Specifically, there is a need for a whole blood assay that is capable of analysing platelet behaviour in contact with a patient-specific autologous von Willebrand factor (vWF), under physiologically relevant conditions. The creation of surface topography capable of entrapping and uncoiling vWF for the support of subsequent platelet adhesion within the same blood sample offers a potential basis for such an assay. In this study, spin coating of polystyrene/poly (methyl methacrylate) (PS/PMMA) demixed solutions onto glass substrates in air has been used to attain surfaces with well-defined topographical features. The effect of augmenting the PS/PMMA solution with uniform 50 µm PS microspheres that can moderate the demixing process on the resultant surface features has also been investigated. The topographical features created here by spin coating under ambient air pressure conditions, rather than in nitrogen, which previous work reports, produces substrate surfaces with the ability to entrap vWF from flowing blood and facilitate platelet adhesion. The direct optical visualisation of fluorescently-labelled platelets indicates that topography resulting from inclusion of PS microspheres in the PS/PMMA spin coating solution increases the total number of platelets that adhere to the substrate surface over the period of the microfluidic assay. However, a detailed analysis of the adhesion rate, mean translocating velocity, mean translocation distance, and fraction of the stably adhered platelets measured during blood flow under arterial equivalent mechanical shear conditions indicates no significant difference for topographies created with or without inclusion of the PS microspheres. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Polymers in Bioengineering)
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9 pages, 1038 KiB  
Article
Temperature Effects on Effluent Microgel Formation
by Hsiao-Ming Chang, Carlos I. Vazquez, Ruei-Feng Shiu and Wei-Chun Chin
Polymers 2022, 14(22), 4870; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14224870 - 11 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1717
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plant effluent is considered an important hotspot of dissolved organic matter. The behavior and transformation of dissolved effluent organic matter (dEfOM) regulate particle sedimentation, pollutant fate, microbial attachment, and biofilm formation. However, studies have so far focused on the transformation of [...] Read more.
Wastewater treatment plant effluent is considered an important hotspot of dissolved organic matter. The behavior and transformation of dissolved effluent organic matter (dEfOM) regulate particle sedimentation, pollutant fate, microbial attachment, and biofilm formation. However, studies have so far focused on the transformation of marine and riverine organic matter, and the current knowledge of dEfOM behavior is still limited. Fluctuations in water conditions, especially temperature, may directly alter the size, assembly speed, and structure of microgels, thereby potentially disturbing fate and the transportation of organic matter. In this study, we firstly investigated the effects of temperature on the behavior and capacity of dEfOM assembly into microgels and the possible mechanism. The microgel size and granularity of dEfOM were monitored by flow cytometry. Our results suggest that, with regard to microgels, a higher temperature leads to a higher assembly capacity but also a decrease in the size distribution. By contrast, assembly at 4 °C reduces the relative assembly capacity but increases the microgel size and granularity. The size distribution of the formed microgels at the various temperatures was ordered as follows: 4 °C > 20 °C > 35 °C. The size reduction in dEfOM assembly may be closely tied to the enhancement of hydrophobic interactions. The reduction in microgel granularity in warm conditions (35 °C) in terms of the effluent water may be caused by thermally induced condensation. Overall, the findings demonstrate the effects of temperature on dEfOM assembly and can facilitate further relevant studies on aquatic organic particle formation during current global warming scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Polymers in Bioengineering)
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15 pages, 3367 KiB  
Article
Electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL) Degradation: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study
by Juliana R. Dias, Aureliana Sousa, Ana Augusto, Paulo J. Bártolo and Pedro L. Granja
Polymers 2022, 14(16), 3397; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14163397 - 19 Aug 2022
Cited by 108 | Viewed by 8200
Abstract
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is widely used in tissue engineering due to its interesting properties, namely biocompatibility, biodegradability, elastic nature, availability, cost efficacy, and the approval of health authorities such as the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The PCL degradation rate is not the [...] Read more.
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is widely used in tissue engineering due to its interesting properties, namely biocompatibility, biodegradability, elastic nature, availability, cost efficacy, and the approval of health authorities such as the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The PCL degradation rate is not the most adequate for specific applications such as skin regeneration due to the hydrophobic nature of bulk PCL. However, PCL electrospun fiber meshes, due to their low diameters resulting in high surface area, are expected to exhibit a fast degradation rate. In this work, in vitro and in vivo degradation studies were performed over 90 days to evaluate the potential of electrospun PCL as a wound dressing. Enzymatic and hydrolytic degradation studies in vitro, performed in a static medium, demonstrated the influence of lipase, which promoted a rate of degradation of 97% for PCL meshes. In an in vivo scenario, the degradation was slower, although the samples were not rejected, and were well-integrated in the surrounding tissues inside the subcutaneous pockets specifically created. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Polymers in Bioengineering)
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18 pages, 8130 KiB  
Review
Influence of Surface Texturing on the Dry Tribological Properties of Polymers in Medical Devices
by Isabela Evangelista, Dorota Wencel, Steve Beguin, Nan Zhang and Michael D. Gilchrist
Polymers 2023, 15(13), 2858; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15132858 - 28 Jun 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2779
Abstract
There is a constant need to improve patient comfort and product performance associated with the use of medical devices. Efforts to optimise the tribological characteristics of medical devices usually involve modifying existing devices without compromising their main design features and functionality. This article [...] Read more.
There is a constant need to improve patient comfort and product performance associated with the use of medical devices. Efforts to optimise the tribological characteristics of medical devices usually involve modifying existing devices without compromising their main design features and functionality. This article constitutes a state-of-the-art review of the influence of dry friction on polymeric components used in medical devices, including those having microscale surface features. Surface tribology and contact interactions are discussed, along with alternative forms of surface texturing. Evident gaps in the literature, and areas warranting future research are highlighted; these include friction involving polymer Vs polymer surfaces, information regarding which topologies and feature spacings provide the best performing textured surfaces, and design guidelines that would assist manufacturers to minimise or maximise friction under non-lubricated conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Polymers in Bioengineering)
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24 pages, 7397 KiB  
Review
Poly (Ether-Ether-Ketone) for Biomedical Applications: From Enhancing Bioactivity to Reinforced-Bioactive Composites—An Overview
by Mônica Rufino Senra, Maria de Fátima Vieira Marques and Sergio Neves Monteiro
Polymers 2023, 15(2), 373; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15020373 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3129
Abstract
The global orthopedic market is forecasted to reach US$79.5 billion by the end of this decade. Factors driving the increase in this market are population aging, sports injury, road traffic accidents, and overweight, which justify a growing demand for orthopedic implants. Therefore, it [...] Read more.
The global orthopedic market is forecasted to reach US$79.5 billion by the end of this decade. Factors driving the increase in this market are population aging, sports injury, road traffic accidents, and overweight, which justify a growing demand for orthopedic implants. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop bone implants with superior mechanical and biological properties to face the demand and improve patients’ quality of life. Today, metallic implants still hold a dominant position in the global orthopedic implant market, mainly due to their superior mechanical resistance. However, their performance might be jeopardized due to the possible release of metallic debris, leading to cytotoxic effects and inflammatory responses in the body. Poly (ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) is a biocompatible, high-performance polymer and one of the most prominent candidates to be used in manufacturing bone implants due to its similarity to the mechanical properties of bone. Unfortunately, the bioinert nature of PEEK culminates in its diminished osseointegration. Notwithstanding, PEEK’s bioactivity can be improved through surface modification techniques and by the development of bioactive composites. This paper overviews the advantages of using PEEK for manufacturing implants and addresses the most common strategies to improve the bioactivity of PEEK in order to promote enhanced biomechanical performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Polymers in Bioengineering)
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