Biomaterials Science最新文献

Correction for 'Fibromodulin facilitates the osteogenic effect of Masquelet's induced membrane by inhibiting the TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway' by Kai Wang et al., Biomater. Sci., 2024, 12, 1898-1913, https://doi.org/10.1039/D3BM01665J.

In the regulatory science of absorbable medical devices, traditional in vivo degradation evaluations are often hindered by lengthy evaluation cycles and ambiguous standards. This restricts the research, development, and translation of novel embolic materials. The lack of an evaluation system to determine whether tissue responses have reached a "degradation steady-state endpoint" is particularly critical. This study systematically evaluated the biological efficacy and in vivo degradation steady state of a composite temperature-sensitive embolic agent based on sodium alginate and poloxamer. This gel undergoes a spontaneous phase transition at body temperature. Combined with a dual-lumen microcatheter delivery technique, it achieves instant crosslinking with calcium ions, exhibiting excellent resistance to blood flow washout. The embolization results in canine hepatic and renal artery models and rabbit renal tumor in situ models confirmed the efficacy of this composite gel as a tumor embolic agent. Its ability to induce coagulation necrosis and apoptosis in tumor tissues outperformed current clinical lipiodol and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microspheres. A six-month porcine hepatic/renal artery study examined residual implant-like material, recanalization, local histopathology, selected endothelial markers, and systemic observations. Under the tested protocols, the PS gel occluded target vessels and showed good biological safety. In pigs, implant-like material remained at six months, while selected histological injury and inflammatory measures were lower than at earlier terminal time points. Histopathological results indicated that local macrophage phagocytosis and inflammatory responses in the target vessels were active between 1 and 3 months. By 6 months, the inflammation level had significantly subsided to a mild state, with concurrent reductions in fibrosis and fatty infiltration. This was accompanied by prominent tissue repair and remodeling, marking a smooth transition of the tissue response toward a steady state. The results support a candidate criteria-based framework for future prospective evaluation. The results justify further formulation characterization, controlled long-term studies, and component-resolved degradation analysis.

Correction for 'Irisin recouples osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis to protect wear-particle-induced osteolysis by suppressing oxidative stress and RANKL production' by Sihan Hu et al., Biomater. Sci., 2021, 9, 5791-5801, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1BM00563D.

Correction for 'Harnessing (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) with chitosan-coated liposomes to modulate the radiation effect in cancer cells through alteration in the miR-139-5p-β-catenin axis' by Sulagna Dutta et al., Biomater. Sci., 2026, https://doi.org/10.1039/d6bm00597g.

Oral leukoplakia (OLK) is a prevalent oral potentially malignant disorder. Targeting the core pathogenesis of OLK, we herein develop a poly(lipoic acid)-based bioadhesive elastomeric patch via a one-step solvent evaporation strategy by integrating lipoic acid with lauroyl arginate ethyl ester hydrochloride, an FDA-approved antimicrobial agent. In this binary system, LAE self-assembles into nanomicelles with outwardly radiating guanidino groups acting as "multi-armed grippers" that suppress room-temperature depolymerization of PolyLA through multiple hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions with carboxyl groups. The abundant carboxyl groups on the elastomer surface provide excellent wet tissue adhesion suitable for the dynamic oral environment. Surfactants with distinct terminal groups are further applied to validate the universality of this binary design strategy and to clarify the regulatory effects of intermolecular interaction strength on material stability, crystallinity and mechanical performance. In vitro biological evaluations demonstrate that the PolyLA/LAE patch can efficiently scavenge ROS, inhibit C. albicans proliferation, and induce apoptosis of dysplastic oral keratinocytes, while maintaining favorable biocompatibility. In a rat OLK model, the patch exhibits satisfactory therapeutic outcomes that are comparable to clinical vitamin A ointment. Collectively, this binary synergistic elastomeric patch offers a simple and universal strategy for treating refractory oral mucosal lesions represented by oral leukoplakia.

Lung cancer remains one of the most prevalent and lethal malignancies worldwide, with its clinical management being hindered by high invasiveness, early metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and the severe adverse effects associated with conventional treatment modalities. Nanoparticle-based formulations have emerged as promising platforms for lung cancer therapy owing to their ability to enhance drug bioavailability and enable targeted, sustained, and controlled drug delivery. Despite these advantages, their broader clinical applications are often limited by insufficient stability, rapid systemic clearance, and suboptimal targeting efficiency in complex physiological environments. In this context, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), a distinctive subclass of metal-organic frameworks, have attracted considerable attention because of their high surface area, tunable pore structures, excellent loading capacity, biocompatibility, and stimulus-responsive degradation behaviour. These unique features enable the efficient encapsulation of therapeutic and diagnostic agents and facilitate their controlled release within the tumor microenvironment, thereby improving treatment specificity and reducing off-target effects. This review discusses the fundamental design principles, synthesis strategies, structural characteristics, and functionalization approaches of ZIF-based materials, with particular emphasis on their emerging applications in lung cancer diagnosis and therapy. Recent advances in biosensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, chemotherapy, phototherapy, immunotherapy, and multifunctional therapeutic platforms are critically examined, together with the interactions of ZIF-based systems with the tumor microenvironment. The review further highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence in the screening, design, and optimization of ZIF materials and discusses the major challenges associated with their clinical translation. Collectively, these advances underscore the considerable potential of ZIF-based platforms in developing more effective and safer strategies for lung cancer diagnosis and therapy.

The repair of long-gap peripheral nerve defects remains challenging, as regeneration depends on temporally coordinated bioactive regulation and spatially organized guidance. To address this, we developed a spatiotemporally coordinated nerve conduit integrating an injectable thermosensitive poly(amino acid) hydrogel with an aligned-random bilayer poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) wall. A brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-mimetic RGI peptide was covalently tethered to mPEG-PMet-PLysMA (P), and retinoic acid (RA) was physically incorporated to form P-RGI@RA. Aligned luminal fibers promoted Schwann cell orientation and spreading, whereas random outer fibers increased transverse tensile strength and elastic modulus by 4.4- and 6.0-fold, respectively, relative to fully aligned membranes. In vitro, the RGI-conjugated formulation increased the mean longest neurite length in PC12 cells, whereas the RA-containing formulation enhanced Schwann cell migration, with the respective responses reaching 1.9- and 1.7-fold the control values. In a 10 mm rat sciatic nerve defect model, P-RGI@RA-filled conduits produced the most favorable repair profile among conduit-treated groups. At 12 weeks, the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude ratio and injured-to-contralateral gastrocnemius wet weight ratio were 2.3- and 1.5-fold those of hollow conduits, reaching 88% and 92% of the corresponding autograft values, respectively. These outcomes were accompanied by improved axon- and Schwann cell-associated regeneration, myelin ultrastructure, and target muscle preservation. Proteomics associated P-RGI@RA treatment with cytoskeletal regulation, extracellular matrix remodeling, axon guidance, and inflammation-related pathways, while immunoblotting showed increased phosphorylation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK). This conduit-hydrogel system provides a potential strategy for peripheral nerve regeneration.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by persistent synovial inflammation and irreversible joint damage. Iguratimod (IGU), a novel small-molecule disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), is limited by low solubility, inadequate joint accumulation and hepatotoxicity when administered orally. To address these limitations, we developed an injectable composite hydrogel (IGU-Man-Lip@Vc-HA) by incorporating mannose-modified IGU liposomes (IGU-Man-Lip) into a vitamin C-functionalized hyaluronic acid (Vc-HA) matrix with ROS-scavenging activity. In this system, IGU-Man-Lip overcame the poor solubility of iguratimod and actively targeted synovial macrophages via overexpressed mannose receptors (MR), thereby downregulating inflammatory cytokine levels and exerting bone-protective effects. Concurrently, the Vc-HA hydrogel scavenged ROS to remodel the inflammatory microenvironment. Furthermore, the resistance of Vc-HA to degradation significantly prolonged intra-articular retention, thereby enhancing drug accumulation in joints. This hybrid delivery system exhibited favorable biocompatibility, as well as potent anti-inflammatory and bone-protective efficacy. In collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats, intra-articular injections achieved significant joint enrichment, potent anti-inflammatory activity and articular repair without detectable systemic toxicity. This multifunctional composite system constitutes a synergistic RA therapeutic strategy by concurrently addressing targeted drug delivery and oxidative stress to improve anti-inflammatory efficacy along with bone protective effects, providing a promising RA-specific treatment approach.

Rational design of polycationic gene delivery vectors requires understanding how polymer chemistry governs RNA complexation, cellular uptake, and intracellular release kinetics. Poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) brushes were found to display striking potential for the delivery of siRNA, with high knockdown efficiency and low cytotoxicity. However, the impact of the physico-chemistry of a broader range of polymer brushes on RNA delivery has not been explored. Using a library of 10 cationic polymer brushes spanning tertiary amine and quaternary ammonium chemistries, we reveal how hydrophobicity, pK_a, rigidity, and quaternisation modulate siRNA delivery and gene silencing. Combining ellipsometry and surface plasmon resonance, we find that RNA binding capacity correlates directly with pH-responsiveness and the chain rigidity of brushes. Quaternisation with short methyl groups fundamentally altered binding mechanisms, eliminating pH sensitivity while improving colloidal stability and reducing cytotoxicity. To investigate the impact of the physico-chemical properties on transfection efficiency, the uptake of brush-RNA complexes was examined by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry and we quantified cytosolic release using a competitive binding microscopic assay. We observe excellent correlation between the impact of the brush physico-chemistry on release kinetics and long term silencing efficiency. Remarkably, we report that the binding capacity of RNA within brushes does not always correlate with cellular internalisation, competitive desorption and transfection efficiency: rigid imidazole brushes achieved robust gene silencing despite binding substantially less RNA than poly(alkylamine methacrylate) brushes. These findings expand the delivery vector design space, enabling the rational engineering of next-generation polymeric carriers for controlled RNA delivery kinetics.

Matrix-bound nanovesicles (MBVs) are a recently discovered subclass of small extracellular vesicles (EVs) that reside within the extracellular matrix of non-mineralized tissues throughout the body. Functionally, MBVs exhibit unique immunomodulatory properties that have been leveraged therapeutically to treat various tissue pathologies, including periprosthetic osteolysis, rheumatoid arthritis, and skeletal muscle injury. However, like other EVs, the therapeutic efficacy of MBV applications is limited by delivery methods, namely bolus injections, that offer poor control of EV persistence and bioavailability at the site of administration. We hypothesized that a superior MBV delivery platform could be developed by entrapping MBVs in a tunable, engineered alginate matrix to control retention and release of MBVs on therapeutically relevant timescales. To this end, we encapsulated dermal fibroblast MBVs in bioinert alginate hydrogels with varying stiffness and stress relaxation rates to determine the impact of matrix mechanical properties on MBV release and retention over a 14-day period. We found that stiffer matrices increased MBV release and decreased MBV retention compared to their softer counterparts. Additionally, fast-relaxing matrices retained fewer MBVs than slow-relaxing matrices regardless of differences in matrix stiffness. We then compared our results to synthetic liposomes and found these results mirror our MBV results, demonstrating that alginate materials may be utilized for more precise control of EV and liposome delivery in the body and may overcome limitations associated with current EV administration methods.