Nanofibrous hydrogels with spatially patterned biochemical signals to control cell behavior

Hierarchically structured hydrogels utilizing multifunctional assembling peptides for 3D cell culture

Approaches for the creation of soft materials, particularly hydrogels, with hierarchical structure are of interest in a variety of applications owing to their unique properties. In the context of tissue mimics, hydrogels with multiscale structures more accurately capture the complexities of tissues within the body (e.g., fibrous collagen-rich microenvironments). However, cytocompatible fabrication of such materials with hierarchical structures and independent control of mechanical and biochemical properties remains challenging and is needed for probing and directing cell-microenvironment interactions for three-dimensional (3D) cell encapsulation and culture applications. To address this, we have designed innovative multifunctional assembling peptides: these unique peptides contain a core block that mimics the structure of collagen for achieving relevant melting temperatures; 'sticky' ends to promote assembly of long fibrils; and a biocompatible reactive handle that is orthogonal to assembly to allow the formation of desired multiscale structures and their subsequent rapid, light-triggered integration within covalently crosslinked synthetic hydrogels. Nano- to micro-fibrils were observed to form in physiologically-relevant aqueous solutions, where both underlying peptide chemical structure and assembly conditions were observed to impact the resulting fibril sizes. These assembled structures were 'locked' into place and integrated as linkers within cell-degradable, bioactive hydrogels formed with photoinitiated thiol-ene 'click' chemistry. Hydrogel compositions were identified for achieving robust mechanical properties like those of soft tissues while also retaining higher ordered structures after photopolymerization. The utility of these innovative materials for 3D cell culture was demonstrated with human mesenchymal stem cells, where cell morphologies reminiscent of responses to assembled native collagen were observed now with a fully synthetic material. Using a bottom-up approach, a new materials platform has been established that combines the advantageous properties of covalent and assembling chemistries for the creation of synthetic hydrogels with controllable nanostructure, mechanical properties, and biochemical content.

Cell migration: implications for repair and regeneration in joint disease

Connective tissues within the synovial joints are characterized by their dense extracellular matrix and sparse cellularity. With injury or disease, however, tissues commonly experience an influx of cells owing to proliferation and migration of endogenous mesenchymal cell populations, as well as invasion of the tissue by other cell types, including immune cells. Although this process is critical for successful wound healing, aberrant immune-mediated cell infiltration can lead to pathological inflammation of the joint. Importantly, cells of mesenchymal or haematopoietic origin use distinct modes of migration and thus might respond differently to similar biological cues and microenvironments. Furthermore, cell migration in the physiological microenvironment of musculoskeletal tissues differs considerably from migration in vitro. This Review addresses the complexities of cell migration in fibrous connective tissues from three separate but interdependent perspectives: physiology (including the cellular and extracellular factors affecting 3D cell migration), pathophysiology (cell migration in the context of synovial joint autoimmune disease and injury) and tissue engineering (cell migration in engineered biomaterials). Improved understanding of the fundamental mechanisms governing interstitial cell migration might lead to interventions that stop invasion processes that culminate in deleterious outcomes and/or that expedite migration to direct endogenous cell-mediated repair and regeneration of joint tissues.

Mechanochemical Adhesion and Plasticity in Multifiber Hydrogel Networks

The extracellular matrix (ECM) has force-responsive (i.e., mechanochemical) properties that enable adaptation to mechanical loading through changes in fibrous network structure and interfiber bonding. Imparting such properties into synthetic fibrous materials will allow reinforcement under mechanical load, the potential for material self-adhesion, and the general mimicking of ECM. Multifiber hydrogel networks are developed through the electrospinning of multiple fibrous hydrogel populations, where fibers contain complementary chemical moieties (e.g., aldehyde and hydrazide groups) that form covalent bonds within minutes when brought into contact under mechanical load. These fiber interactions lead to microscale anisotropy, as well as increased material stiffness and plastic deformation. Macroscale structures (e.g., tubes and layered scaffolds) are fabricated from these materials through interfiber bonding and adhesion when placed into contact while maintaining a microscale fibrous architecture. The design principles for engineering plasticity described can be applied to numerous material systems to introduce unique properties, from textiles to biomedical applications.

Hydration-Enhanced Lubricating Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes Prevent Tissue Adhesion

Lubrication is the key to efficient function of human tissues and has significant impact on the comfort level. However, the construction of a lubricating nanofibrous membrane has not been reported as yet, especially using a one-step surface modification method. Here, bioinspired by the superlubrication mechanism of articular cartilage, we successfully construct hydration-enhanced lubricating nanofibers via one-step in situ grafting of a copolymer synthesized by dopamine methacrylamide (DMA) and 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) onto electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers. The zwitterionic MPC structure provides the nanofiber surface with hydration lubrication behavior. The coefficient of friction (COF) of the lubricating nanofibrous membrane decreases significantly and is approximately 65% less than that of pure PCL nanofibers, which are easily worn out under friction regardless of hydration. The lubricating nanofibers, however, show favorable wear-resistance performance. Besides, they possess a strong antiadhesion ability of fibroblasts compared with pure PCL nanofibers. The cell density decreases approximately 9-fold, and the cell area decreases approximately 12 times on day 7. Furthermore, the in vivo antitendon adhesion data reveals that the lubricating nanofiber group has a significantly lower adhesion score and a better antitissue adhesion. Altogether, our developed hydration-enhanced lubricating nanofibers show promising applications in the biomedical field such as antiadhesive membranes.

Multi-directional cellular alignment in 3D guided by electrohydrodynamically-printed microlattices

Recapitulating aligned cellular architectures of native tissues in vitro is important to engineer artificial tissue analogs with desired biological functions. Here a novel strategy is presented to direct three-dimensional (3D) cellular alignment by embedding cell/collagen hydrogel into the predefined electrohydrodynamically-printed microlattices. The cell/collagen hydrogel, originally filled within the printed microlattices uniformly, was found to gradually develop into densely-populated and highly-aligned bands along the longitudinal direction of the printed microlattices. The cellular alignment was highly dependent on the height, spacing and orientation of the microlattices. The presented method was applicable to multiple cell types including primary cardiomyocytes and the gaps formed between the aligned bands and the lateral walls of the microlattice facilitated the subsequent seeding and rapid alignment of other cell types which enables to engineer anisotropic multicellular tissue constructs. The engineered cardiac patches expressed mature cardiomyocyte-specific phenotypes and exhibited synchronous contractive activities. Multilayer cellular alignment with varied orientation in 3D collagen hydrogel was successfully achieved by using electrohydrodynamically-printed microlattices with layer-specific orientations. This exploration offers a promising way to engineer complex 3D tissue constructs with predefined cellular alignments. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Fabrication of biomimetic highly-aligned complex cellular architectures has a great significance to recapitulate the unique mechanical and physiological functions of the engineered tissues (e.g., heart tissue, neuron, muscle). Here, we introduced a novel strategy to direct 3D cellular alignment by embedding cell/collagen hydrogel into the predefined electrohydrodynamically-printed microlattices without any external stimuli. The microscopical study of the dynamic alignment process of cells and collagen fibers contributed to exploring the mechanism of autonomous formation of highly-aligned cellular bands. Multilayer cellular alignment with varied orientation in 3D collagen hydrogel was successfully achieved by using the microlattices with layer-specific orientations, which showed a promising way to engineer complex 3D tissue constructs with predefined cellular alignments.

Hyaluronan-Based Nanofibers: Fabrication, Characterization and Application

Nano- and microfibers based on biopolymers are some of the most attractive issues of biotechnology due to their unique properties and effectiveness. Hyaluronan is well-known as a biodegradable, naturally-occurring polymer, which has great potential for being utilized in a fibrous form. The obtaining of fibers from hyaluronan presents a major challenge because of the hydrophilic character of the polymer and the high viscosity level of its solutions. Electrospinning, as the advanced and effective method of the fiber generation, is difficult. The nano- and microfibers from hyaluronan may be obtained by utilizing special techniques, including binary/ternary solvent systems and several polymers described as modifying (or carrying), such as polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). This paper reviews various methods for the synthesis of hyaluronan-based fibers, and also collects brief information on the properties and biological activity of hyaluronan and fibrous materials based on it.

Hemicellulose from Plant Biomass in Medical and Pharmaceutical Application: A Critical Review

BACKGROUND

Due to the non-toxicity, abundance and biodegradability, recently more and more attention has been focused on the exploration of hemicellulose as the potential substrate for the production of liquid fuels and other value-added chemicals and materials in different fields. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge on the promising application of nature hemicellulose and its derivative products including its degradation products, its new derivatives and hemicellulosebased medical biodegradable materials in the medical and pharmaceutical field, especially for inmmune regulation, bacteria inhibition, drug release, anti-caries, scaffold materials and anti-tumor.

METHODS

We searched the related papers about the medical and pharmaceutical application of hemicellulose and its derivative products, and summarized their preparation methods, properties and use effects.

RESULTS

Two hundred and twenty-seven papers were included in this review. Forty-seven papers introduced the extraction and application in immune regulation of nature hemicellulose, such as xylan, mannan, xyloglucan (XG) and β-glucan. Seventy-seven papers mentioned the preparation and application of degradation products of hemicellulose for adjusting intestinal function, maintaining blood glucose levels, enhancing the immunity and alleviating human fatigue fields such as xylooligosaccharides, xylitol, xylose, arabinose, etc. The preparation of hemicellulose derivatives were described in thirty-two papers such as hemicellulose esters, hemicellulose ethers and their effects on anticoagulants, adsorption of creatinine, the addition of immune cells and the inhibition of harmful bacteria. Finally, the preparations of hemicellulose-based materials such as hydrogels and membrane for the field of drug release, cell immobilization, cancer therapy and wound dressings were presented using fifty-five papers.

CONCLUSION

The structure of hemicellulose-based products has the significant impact on properties and the use effect for the immunity, and treating various diseases of human. However, some efforts should be made to explore and improve the properties of hemicellulose-based products and design the new materials to broaden hemicellulose applications.

Engineered materials for organoid systems

Organoids are 3D cell culture systems that mimic some of the structural and functional characteristics of an organ. Organoid cultures provide the opportunity to study organ-level biology in models that mimic human physiology more closely than 2D cell culture systems or non-primate animal models. Many organoid cultures rely on decellularized extracellular matrices as scaffolds, which are often poorly chemically defined and allow only limited tunability and reproducibility. By contrast, the biochemical and biophysical properties of engineered matrices can be tuned and optimized to support the development and maturation of organoid cultures. In this Review, we highlight how key cell-matrix interactions guiding stem-cell decisions can inform the design of biomaterials for the reproducible generation and control of organoid cultures. We survey natural, synthetic and protein-engineered hydrogels for their applicability to different organoid systems and discuss biochemical and mechanical material properties relevant for organoid formation. Finally, dynamic and cell-responsive material systems are investigated for their future use in organoid research.

Influence of hyaluronic acid modification on CD44 binding towards the design of hydrogel biomaterials

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a linear polysaccharide of d-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine that is native to many tissues and interacts with cells via cell-surface receptors (e.g., CD44). HA has been extensively explored as a chemically-modified macromer for crosslinking into biomaterials, such as hydrogels and macroporous scaffolds. However, the influence of the extent and type of HA modification on its binding to CD44 is not well understood or quantified. To address this, we modified HA at either the carboxylic acid or the primary alcohol with various chemical groups (e.g., norbornenes, methacrylates) and magnitudes (~10, 20, or 40% of disaccharides) and then characterized binding in both soluble and hydrogel forms. HA binding to CD44 immobilized on plates or presented by cells was influenced by the extent and type of its modification, where increased modification (i.e., ~40%) generally decreased binding. The adhesion of CD44-modified beads to hydrogels as measured by atomic force microscopy revealed a similar trend, particularly with decreased adhesion with hydrophobic modifications to the carboxylic acid. Further, the chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stromal cells when encapsulated in hydrogels fabricated from modified HA macromers was reduced at high modification, behaving similarly to inert hydrogel controls. This work suggests that the types and extents of modification of polysaccharides are important factors that should be considered in preserving their biological function when processed as hydrogels.

Tuning Porosity and Functionality of Electrospun Rubber Nanofiber Mats by Photo-Crosslinking

The present work proposes a versatile and efficient method to fabricate rubber nanofiber membranes with a controlled morphology and tailored functionality, based on the application of photoinduced thiol-ene cross-linking reactions to electrospun mats. Besides preventing the polymer cold flow and freezing the structure obtained by electrospinning, the photocuring step finely controls the morphology of the nanofiber mats, in terms of the fiber diameter up to the nanometer range and of the membrane porosity. Nanofiber membranes are also made chemically resistant, while retaining their flexibility. Finally, the proposed approach allows imparting specific functionalities to the rubber nanofibers: the type and concentration of the functional groups can be precisely tuned by changing process parameters (i.e., thiol/ene stoichiometric ratio and irradiation dose). Active chemical groups that remain available on the surface of the nanofibers can be used for further material modifications, as here proven by two target reactions. This key result is also demonstrated with electrospun membranes embedded into a microfluidic chip, opening the way to advanced functional flexible devices.

Photosensitive Hydrogel Creates Favorable Biologic Niches to Promote Spinal Cord Injury Repair

Photochemistry is considered to be a promising strategy for hydrogels to mimic the complex and dynamic properties of natural extracellular matrix. However, it is seldom applied in 3D tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to the attenuation of light. In this study, phenyl azide photchemistry and optical fiber technology are first used to localize adhesive protein on the inner surface of the nerve guidance conduit in a 3D hydrogel scaffold. In vitro coculture assay of neural stem cells (NSCs) shows that photoimmobilization of collagen significantly improves the adhesion and survival of NSCs in the conduit, and exhibits synergistic effect with the sustainable release of growth factor. After implantation in transected spinal cord, the optimized hydrogel scaffold is found to improve the locomotion recovery of rats 12 weeks after spinal cord injury (SCI). Histological analysis suggests that the designed hydrogel scaffold provides a favorable biological niche for neuronal regeneration, thus producing directional neuron tissue and promoting the repair of SCI. This study demonstrates a promising hydrogel scaffold for SCI repair and provides the first understanding of the photoimmobilization of adhesive protein in a 3D hydrogel conduit concerning its functions on spinal cord tissue restoration.

Bionic Poly(γ-Glutamic Acid) Electrospun Fibrous Scaffolds for Preventing Hypertrophic Scars

Hypertrophic scarring (HS) remains a great challenge in wound dressing. Although various bionic extracellular matrix (ECM) biomaterials have been designed towards HS treatment, not all biomaterials can synergize biological functions and application functions in wound repair. Bionic scar-inhibiting scaffolds, loaded with biomolecules or drugs, become promising strategies for scarless skin regeneration. In this work, inspired by the physicochemical environment of ECM, a versatile fabrication of poly(γ-glutamic acid) based on electrospun photocrosslinkable hydrogel fibrous scaffolds incorporated with ginsenoside Rg3 (GS-Rg3) is developed for tissue repair and wound therapy. Decorated with adhesive peptide, bionic fibrous scaffolds can accelerate fibroblasts to sprout and grow, forming organized space-filling basement that gradually fills a depression before wound close up in the early stage. Additionally, by sustained release of GS-Rg3 in late stage, fibrous scaffolds promote scarless wound healing in vivo as evidenced by the promotion of cell communication and skin regeneration, as well as the subsequent decrease of angiogenesis and collagen accumulation. These ECM-inspired fibrous scaffolds, therefore, offer new perspectives on accelerated wound healing and tissue regeneration.

Cardiac tissue engineering: state-of-the-art methods and outlook

The purpose of this review is to assess the state-of-the-art fabrication methods, advances in genome editing, and the use of machine learning to shape the prospective growth in cardiac tissue engineering. Those interdisciplinary emerging innovations would move forward basic research in this field and their clinical applications. The long-entrenched challenges in this field could be addressed by novel 3-dimensional (3D) scaffold substrates for cardiomyocyte (CM) growth and maturation. Stem cell-based therapy through genome editing techniques can repair gene mutation, control better maturation of CMs or even reveal its molecular clock. Finally, machine learning and precision control for improvements of the construct fabrication process and optimization in tissue-specific clonal selections with an outlook of cardiac tissue engineering are also presented.

Ultraviolet Functionalization of Electrospun Scaffolds to Activate Fibrous Runways for Targeting Cell Adhesion

A critical challenge in scaffold design for tissue engineering is recapitulating the complex biochemical patterns that regulate cell behavior in vivo. In this work, we report the adaptation of a standard sterilization methodology-UV irradiation-for patterning the surfaces of two complementary polymeric electrospun scaffolds with oxygen cues able to efficiently immobilize biomolecules. Independently of the different polymer chain length of poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)/poly(butylene terephthalate) (PEOT/PBT) copolymers and PEOT/PBT ratio, it was possible to easily functionalize specific regions of the scaffolds by inducing an optimized and spatially controlled adsorption of proteins capable of boosting the adhesion and spreading of cells along the activated fibrous runways. By allowing an efficient design of cell attachment patterns without inducing any noticeable change on cell morphology nor on the integrity of the electrospun fibers, this procedure offers an affordable and resourceful approach to generate complex biochemical patterns that can decisively complement the functionality of the next generation of tissue engineering scaffolds.

Enzymatically-degradable alginate hydrogels promote cell spreading and in vivo tissue infiltration

Enzymatically-degradable materials recapitulate the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between cells and their native microenvironment by allowing cells to actively shape the degradation process. In order to engineer a synthetic 3D environment enabling cells to orchestrate the degradation of the surrounding material, norbornene-modified alginate was crosslinked with two different peptide crosslinkers susceptible to cleavage by matrix metalloproteinases using UV-initiated thiol-ene chemistry. Resulting hydrogels were characterized for their initial mechanical and rheological properties, and their degradation behavior was measured by tracking changes in wet weight upon enzyme incubation. This process was found to be a function of the crosslinker type and enzyme concentration, indicating that degradation kinetics could be controlled and tuned. When mouse embryonic fibroblasts were encapsulated in 3D, cell number remained constant and viability was high in all materials, while cell spreading and extensive filopodia formation was observed only in the degradable gels, not in non-degradable controls. After implanting hydrogels into the backs of C57/Bl6 mice for 8 weeks, histological stainings of recovered gel remnants and surrounding tissue revealed higher tissue and cell infiltration into degradable materials compared to non-degradable controls. This alginate-based material platform with cell-empowered enzymatic degradation could prove useful in diverse tissue engineering contexts, such as regeneration and drug delivery.

Cell-Compatible, Site-Specific Covalent Modification of Hydrogel Scaffolds Enables User-Defined Control over Cell-Material Interactions

SpyCatcher, a 15 kDa protein domain that spontaneously forms a site-specific covalent bond with the 13 amino acid peptide SpyTag, was used to covalently link a model recombinant protein containing a SpyCatcher domain and the adhesive ligand Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) (RGDS-SC) into SpyTag-containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels. This new strategy for covalent immobilization of proteins or peptides provides an easy and gentle mechanism for biochemical modification of hydrogels. Labeling efficiency was approximately 100% when soluble RGDS-SC was applied to SpyTag-containing hydrogels at a 1:1 molar ratio. RGDS-SC remained stably bound throughout the 5 days of rinsing, and 3T3 fibroblasts were able to adhere to PEG gels presenting RGDS-SC, but did not adhere when the scrambled amino acid sequence RDGS was presented instead. Fibroblasts encapsulated within 3D cell-degradable PEG hydrogels containing SpyTag did not spread until RGDS-SC was added to the gels, at which point cell spreading was induced. This cell-friendly site-specific ligation strategy could have great utility in driving specific cellular outcomes using biochemically dynamic hydrogels.

3D Bioprinting: from Benches to Translational Applications

Over the last decades, the fabrication of 3D tissues has become commonplace in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, conventional 3D biofabrication techniques such as scaffolding, microengineering, and fiber and cell sheet engineering are limited in their capacity to fabricate complex tissue constructs with the required precision and controllability that is needed to replicate biologically relevant tissues. To this end, 3D bioprinting offers great versatility to fabricate biomimetic, volumetric tissues that are structurally and functionally relevant. It enables precise control of the composition, spatial distribution, and architecture of resulting constructs facilitating the recapitulation of the delicate shapes and structures of targeted organs and tissues. This Review systematically covers the history of bioprinting and the most recent advances in instrumentation and methods. It then focuses on the requirements for bioinks and cells to achieve optimal fabrication of biomimetic constructs. Next, emerging evolutions and future directions of bioprinting are discussed, such as freeform, high-resolution, multimaterial, and 4D bioprinting. Finally, the translational potential of bioprinting and bioprinted tissues of various categories are presented and the Review is concluded by exemplifying commercially available bioprinting platforms.

A Programmed Anti-Inflammatory Nanoscaffold (PAIN) as a 3D Tool to Understand the Brain Injury Response

Immunology is the next frontier of nano/biomaterial science research, with the immune system determining the degree of tissue repair. However, the complexity of the inflammatory response represents a significant challenge that is essential to understand for the development of future therapies. Cell-instructive 3D culture environments are critical to improve our understanding of the link between the behavior and morphology of inflammatory cells and to remodel their response to injury. This study has taken two recent high-profile innovations-functional peptide-based hydrogels, and the inclusion of anti-inflammatory agents via coassembly-to make a programmed anti-inflammatory nanoscaffold (PAIN) with unusual and valuable properties that allows tissue-independent switching of the inflammatory cascade. Here, extraordinary durability of the anti-inflammatory agent allows, for the first time, the development of a 3D culture system that maintains the growth and cytoskeletal reorganization of brain tissue, while also facilitating the trophic behavior of brain cells for 22 d in vitro. Notably, this behavior was confirmed within an active scar site due to the unprecedented resilience to the presence of inflammatory cells and enzymes in the brain. Efficacy of the culture system is demonstrated via novel insights about inflammatory cell behavior, which would be impossible to obtain via in vivo experimentation.

Review: Synthetic scaffolds to control the biochemical, mechanical, and geometrical environment of stem cell-derived brain organoids

Stem cell-derived brain organoids provide a powerful platform for systematic studies of tissue functional architecture and the development of personalized therapies. Here, we review key advances at the interface of soft matter and stem cell biology on synthetic alternatives to extracellular matrices. We emphasize recent biomaterial-based strategies that have been proven advantageous towards optimizing organoid growth and controlling the geometrical, biomechanical, and biochemical properties of the organoid's three-dimensional environment. We highlight systems that have the potential to increase the translational value of region-specific brain organoid models suitable for different types of manipulations and high-throughput applications.

A Modular Approach to Sensitized Two-Photon Patterning of Photodegradable Hydrogels

Photodegradable hydrogels have emerged as useful platforms for research on cell function, tissue engineering, and cell delivery as their physical and chemical properties can be dynamically controlled by the use of light. The photo-induced degradation of such hydrogel systems is commonly based on the integration of photolabile o-nitrobenzyl derivatives to the hydrogel backbone, because such linkers can be cleaved by means of one- and two-photon absorption. Herein we describe a cytocompatible click-based hydrogel containing o-nitrobenzyl ester linkages between a hyaluronic acid backbone, which is photodegradable in the presence of cells. It is demonstrated for the first time that by using a cyclic benzylidene ketone-based small molecule as photosensitizer the efficiency of the two-photon degradation process can be improved significantly. Biocompatibility of both the improved two-photon micropatterning process as well as the hydrogel itself is confirmed by cell culture studies.

Guided protein/cell patterning on superhydrophilic polymer brushes functionalized with mussel-inspired polydopamine coatings

A simple approach for preparing bicomponent polymer patterns was developed by coating polydopamine (PDA) on superhydrophilic poly(2-acryl-amido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) (PAMPS) brushes. Well-defined and versatile arrays of proteins and cells were achieved without harm to proteins and cells.

Hierarchical Design of Tissue Regenerative Constructs

The worldwide shortage of organs fosters significant advancements in regenerative therapies. Tissue engineering and regeneration aim to supply or repair organs or tissues by combining material scaffolds, biochemical signals, and cells. The greatest challenge entails the creation of a suitable implantable or injectable 3D macroenvironment and microenvironment to allow for ex vivo or in vivo cell-induced tissue formation. This review gives an overview of the essential components of tissue regenerating scaffolds, ranging from the molecular to the macroscopic scale in a hierarchical manner. Further, this review elaborates about recent pivotal technologies, such as photopatterning, electrospinning, 3D bioprinting, or the assembly of micrometer-scale building blocks, which enable the incorporation of local heterogeneities, similar to most native extracellular matrices. These methods are applied to mimic a vast number of different tissues, including cartilage, bone, nerves, muscle, heart, and blood vessels. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the last decade, it remains a hurdle to build biomaterial constructs in vitro or in vivo with a native-like structure and architecture, including spatiotemporal control of biofunctional domains and mechanical properties. New chemistries and assembly methods in water will be crucial to develop therapies that are clinically translatable and can evolve into organized and functional tissues.

Thiolated Hyaluronic Acid as Versatile Mucoadhesive Polymer: From the Chemistry Behind to Product Developments-What Are the Capabilities?

Within the last decade, intensive research work has been conducted on thiolated hyaluronic acids (HA-SH). By attaching sulfhydryl ligands onto naturally occurring hyaluronic acid various types of HA-SH can be designed. Due the ability of disulfide bond formation within the polymer itself as well as with biological materials, certain properties such as mucoadhesive, gelling, enzyme inhibitory, permeation enhancing and release controlling properties are improved. Besides the application in the field of drug delivery, HA-SH has been investigated as auxiliary material for wound healing. Within this review, the characteristics of novel drug delivery systems based on HA-SH are summarized and the versatility of this polymer for further applications is described by introducing numerous relevant studies in this field.

Photo-immobilized EGF chemical gradients differentially impact breast cancer cell invasion and drug response in defined 3D hydrogels

Breast cancer cell invasion is influenced by growth factor concentration gradients in the tumor microenvironment. However, studying the influence of growth factor gradients on breast cancer cell invasion is challenging due to both the complexities of in vivo models and the difficulties in recapitulating the tumor microenvironment with defined gradients using in vitro models. A defined hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogel crosslinked with matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) cleavable peptides and modified with multiphoton labile nitrodibenzofuran (NDBF) was synthesized to photochemically immobilize epidermal growth factor (EGF) gradients. We demonstrate that EGF gradients can differentially influence breast cancer cell invasion and drug response in cell lines with different EGF receptor (EGFR) expression levels. Photopatterned EGF gradients increase the invasion of moderate EGFR expressing MDA-MB-231 cells, reduce invasion of high EGFR expressing MDA-MB-468 cells, and have no effect on invasion of low EGFR-expressing MCF-7 cells. We evaluate MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cell response to the clinically tested EGFR inhibitor, cetuximab. Interestingly, the cellular response to cetuximab is completely different on the EGF gradient hydrogels: cetuximab decreases MDA-MB-231 cell invasion but increases MDA-MB-468 cell invasion and cell number, thus demonstrating the importance of including cell-microenvironment interactions when evaluating drug targets.

Biofunctionalized aligned microgels provide 3D cell guidance to mimic complex tissue matrices

Natural healing is based on highly orchestrated processes, in which the extracellular matrix plays a key role. To resemble the native cell environment, we introduce an artificial extracellular matrix (aECM) with the capability to template hierarchical and anisotropic structures in situ, allowing a minimally-invasive application via injection. Synthetic, magnetically responsive, rod-shaped microgels are locally aligned and fixed by a biocompatible surrounding hydrogel, creating a hybrid anisotropic hydrogel (Anisogel), of which the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties can be tailored. The microgels are rendered cell-adhesive with GRGDS and incorporated either inside a cell-adhesive fibrin or bioinert poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel to strongly interact with fibroblasts. GRGDS-modified microgels inside a fibrin-based Anisogel enhance fibroblast alignment and lead to a reduction in fibronectin production, indicating successful replacement of structural proteins. In addition, YAP-translocation to the nucleus increases with the concentration of microgels, indicating cellular sensing of the overall anisotropic mechanical properties of the Anisogel. For bioinert surrounding PEG hydrogels, GRGDS-microgels are required to support cell proliferation and fibronectin production. In contrast to fibroblasts, primary nerve growth is not significantly affected by the biomodification of the microgels. In conclusion, this approach opens new opportunities towards advanced and complex aECMs for tissue regeneration.

Complementary, Semiautomated Methods for Creating Multidimensional PEG-Based Biomaterials

Tunable biomaterials that mimic selected features of the extracellular matrix (ECM) such as its stiffness, protein composition, and dimensionality are increasingly popular for studying how cells sense and respond to ECM cues. In the field, there exists a significant trade-off for how complex and how well these biomaterials represent the in vivo microenvironment versus how easy they are to make and how adaptable they are to automated fabrication techniques. To address this need to integrate more complex biomaterials design with high-throughput screening approaches, we present several methods to fabricate synthetic biomaterials in 96-well plates and demonstrate that they can be adapted to semiautomated liquid handling robotics. These platforms include (1) glass bottom plates with covalently attached ECM proteins and (2) hydrogels with tunable stiffness and protein composition with either cells seeded on the surface or (3) laden within the three-dimensional hydrogel matrix. This study includes proof-of-concept results demonstrating control over breast cancer cell line phenotypes via these ECM cues in a semiautomated fashion. We foresee the use of these methods as a mechanism to bridge the gap between high-throughput cell-matrix screening and engineered ECM-mimicking biomaterials.

Role of Grounded Liquid Collectors in Precise Patterning of Electrospun Nanofiber Mats

Liquid collectors are applicable as ground collectors in electrospinning, which fabricates complex nanofiber architectures. However, the influence of the electrical properties of liquid collectors on the controlled deposition of electrospun nanofiber mats has received little attention. Here, we prepare two types of liquid collectors (electrolyte solutions and dielectric liquids) and newly scrutinize their roles in the patterning of electrospun nanofiber mats in experiments and in numerical simulations. By simulating the concentrations of the electric fields around the liquid collectors, we indirectly evaluated the patternability of the collectors. The patternability trends were verified by the patterning of nanofiber mats on line-array-shaped liquid collectors fabricated by electrospinning. The deposition accuracy of the electrolyte solution collector was very high, equivalent to that of a conventional metal collector even at low salt concentrations (e.g., 0.01 M KCl). However, the nanofiber mats fabricated by electrospinning with the dielectric liquid collector showed retarded patternability.

Structured Macroporous Hydrogels: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities

Structured macroporous hydrogels that have controllable porosities on both the nanoscale and the microscale offer both the swelling and interfacial properties of bulk hydrogels as well as the transport properties of "hard" macroporous materials. While a variety of techniques such as solvent casting, freeze drying, gas foaming, and phase separation have been developed to fabricate structured macroporous hydrogels, the typically weak mechanics and isotropic pore structures achieved as well as the required use of solvent/additives in the preparation process all limit the potential applications of these materials, particularly in biomedical contexts. This review highlights recent developments in the field of structured macroporous hydrogels aiming to increase network strength, create anisotropy and directionality within the networks, and utilize solvent-free or additive-free fabrication methods. Such functional materials are well suited for not only biomedical applications like tissue engineering and drug delivery but also selective filtration, environmental sorption, and the physical templating of secondary networks.

Multiple microarrays of non-adherent cells on a single 3D stimuli-responsive binary polymer-brush pattern

A hierarchically binary PGAMA/PNIPAM pattern is fabricated, and multiple cell microarrays are formed on this single pattern with the aid of Con A and temperature.

Electrospinning Functionalized Polymers for Use as Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Electrospinning polymers is a versatile technique to generate fibrous, three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Modifying polymers with functional groups prior to electrospinning offers the opportunity to control the spatial presentation of functional groups within the scaffold as well as incorporate multiple bioactive cues. This chapter describes methods to modify poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with peptides and electrospin these peptide-PCL conjugates to functionalize a scaffold surface in a single step. Methods to adapt standard electrospinning setups to create single- or dual-peptide gradients within a single construct are also described.

Spatiotemporal hydrogel biomaterials for regenerative medicine

Hydrogels mimic many of the physical properties of soft tissue and are widely used biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Synthetic hydrogels have been developed to recapitulate many of the healthy and diseased states of native tissues and can be used as a cell scaffold to study the effect of matricellular interactions in vitro. However, these matrices often fail to capture the dynamic and heterogenous nature of the in vivo environment, which varies spatially and during events such as development and disease. To address this deficiency, a variety of manufacturing and processing techniques are being adapted to the biomaterials setting. Among these, photochemistry is particularly well suited because these reactions can be performed in precise three-dimensional space and at specific moments in time. This spatiotemporal control over chemical reactions can also be performed over a range of cell- and tissue-relevant length scales with reactions that proceed efficiently and harmlessly at ambient conditions. This review will focus on the use of photochemical reactions to create dynamic hydrogel environments, and how these dynamic environments are being used to investigate and direct cell behavior.

Covalent Incorporation of Heparin Improves Chondrogenesis in Photocurable Gelatin-Methacryloyl Hydrogels

Multicomponent gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels are regularly adopted for cartilage tissue engineering (TE) applications, where optimizing chemical modifications for preserving biofunctionality is often overlooked. This study investigates the biological effect of two different modification methods, methacrylation and thiolation, to copolymerize GelMA and heparin. The native bioactivity of methacrylated heparin (HepMA) and thiolated heparin (HepSH) is evaluated via thromboplastin time and heparan sulfate-deficient myeloid cell-line proliferation assay, demonstrating that thiolation is superior for preserving anticoagulation and growth factor signaling capacity. Furthermore, incorporating either HepMA or HepSH in chondrocyte-laden GelMA hydrogels, cultured for 5 weeks under chondrogenic conditions, promotes cell viability and chondrocyte phenotype. However, only GelMA-HepSH hydrogels yield significantly greater differentiation and matrix deposition in vitro compared to GelMA. This study demonstrates that thiol-ene chemistry offers a favorable strategy for incorporating bioactives into gelatin hydrogels as compared to methacrylation while furthermore highlighting GelMA-HepSH hydrogels as candidates for cartilage TE applications.

The development of cell-initiated degradable hydrogel based on methacrylated alginate applicable to multiple microfabrication technologies

Biomimetic multicellular complex tissues can be obtained via 3D microfabrication approaches, although the lack of active materials that meet the needs of both molding and the maintenance of cell function is the main bottleneck in their application. The development of 3D cell culture platforms, which are suitable for multiple cell types and various microfabrication technologies, would open the way to the biomimetic construction of multicellular complex tissues. In this study, a MMP-sensitive photocrosslinkable hydrogel system based on methacrylated alginate, which is suitable for the survival of multiple cell types and can be employed in a variety of micro-manufacturing technologies, was designed for the construction of 3D microfeatures to meet both the demands of molding and the requirement for biomimetic function. By employing the characteristics of photocrosslinking and ion crosslinking, the gel system was combined with a variety of microfabrication techniques to construct biomimetic microstructures with a spatial distribution of multiple types of cell. The diversity of shapes and cell types in these assemblies, as well as the maintenance of cell activity, collectively show that the functional MMP-sensitive gel system has the potential to be used as a cell culture platform for the construction of tissue microstructures.

Spatially and Temporally Controlled Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering

Recent years have seen tremendous advances in the field of hydrogel-based biomaterials. One of the most prominent revolutions in this field has been the integration of elements or techniques that enable spatial and temporal control over hydrogels' properties and functions. Here, we critically review the emerging progress of spatiotemporal control over biomaterial properties towards the development of functional engineered tissue constructs. Specifically, we will highlight the main advances in the spatial control of biomaterials, such as surface modification, microfabrication, photo-patterning, and three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting, as well as advances in the temporal control of biomaterials, such as controlled release of molecules, photocleaving of proteins, and controlled hydrogel degradation. We believe that the development and integration of these techniques will drive the engineering of next-generation engineered tissues.

A photoclickable peptide microarray platform for facile and rapid screening of 3-D tissue microenvironments

Microarrays are powerful experimental tools for high-throughput screening of cellular behavior in multivariate microenvironments. Here, we present a new, facile and rapid screening method for probing cellular behavior in 3D tissue microenvironments. This method utilizes a photoclickable peptide microarray platform developed using electrospun fibrous poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels and microarray contact printing. We investigated the utility of this platform with five different peptide motifs and ten cell types including stem, terminally differentiated, cancer or immune cells that were from either primary origin or cell lines and from different species. We validated the capabilities of this platform to screen arrays consisting of multiple peptide motifs and concentrations for selectivity to cellular adhesion and morphology. Moreover, this platform is amenable to controlled spatial presentation of peptides. We show that by leveraging the differential attachment affinities for two cell types to two different peptides, this platform can also be used to investigate cell-cell interactions through miniature co-culture peptide arrays. Our fibrous peptide microarray platform enables high-throughput screening of 3D tissue microenvironments in a facile and rapid manner to investigate cell-matrix interactions and cell-cell signaling and to identify optimal tissue microenvironments for cell-based therapies.

Fabrication and Characterization of Three-Dimensional (3D) Core-Shell Structure Nanofibers Designed for 3D Dynamic Cell Culture

Three-dimensional elastic nanofibers (3D eNFs) can offer a suitable 3D dynamic microenvironment and sufficient flexibility to regulate cellular behavior and functional protein expression. In this study, we report a novel approach to prepare 3D nanofibers with excellent mechanical properties by solution-assisted electrospinning technology and in situ polymerization. The obtained 3D eNFs demonstrated excellent biocompatible properties to meet cell culture requirements under a dynamic environment in vitro. Moreover, these 3D eNFs also promoted human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) adhesion and collagen expression under biomechanical stimulation. The results demonstrated that this dynamic cell culture system could positively impact cellular collagen but has no significant effect on the proliferation of hMSCs grown in the 3D eNFs. This work may give rise to a new approach for constructing a 3D cell culture for tissue engineering.

Development of hydrogels for regenerative engineering

The aim of regenerative engineering is to restore complex tissues and biological systems through convergence in the fields of advanced biomaterials, stem cell science, and developmental biology. Hydrogels are one of the most attractive biomaterials for regenerative engineering, since they can be engineered into tissue mimetic 3D scaffolds to support cell growth due to their similarity to native extracellular matrix. Advanced nano- and micro-technologies have dramatically increased the ability to control properties and functionalities of hydrogel materials by facilitating biomimetic fabrication of more sophisticated compositions and architectures, thus extending our understanding of cell-matrix interactions at the nanoscale. With this perspective, this review discusses the most commonly used hydrogel materials and their fabrication strategies for regenerative engineering. We highlight the physical, chemical, and functional modulation of hydrogels to design and engineer biomimetic tissues based on recent achievements in nano- and micro-technologies. In addition, current hydrogel-based regenerative engineering strategies for treating multiple tissues, such as musculoskeletal, nervous and cardiac tissue, are also covered in this review. The interaction of multiple disciplines including materials science, cell biology, and chemistry, will further play an important role in the design of functional hydrogels for the regeneration of complex tissues.

2-Hydroxyethylcellulose and Amphiphilic Block Polymer Conjugates Form Mechanically Tunable and Nonswellable Hydrogels

Herein, we report a family of mechanically tunable, nonswellable hydrogels that are based on a 2-hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) scaffold grafted with amphiphilic diblock copolymers. Poly[(oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate]-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (POEGMA-b-PMMA) diblock copolymers of different compositions were created via RAFT polymerization using an alkyne terminated macro chain transfer agent (CTA). 2-Hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) was modified with azide groups and the diblock copolymers were attached to the backbone via the copper-catalyzed click reaction to yield HEC-g-(POEGMA-b-PMMA) graft terpolymers. The resulting conjugates were soluble in DMF and able to form hydrogels upon simple solvent exchange in water. By increasing the concentration of the conjugates in DMF, the storage moduli of the hydrogels increased and the pore size in the gel decreased. After hydrogel formation, the structures were also found to be nonswellable (no macroscopic volume change upon incubation in water), which is an important feature for retaining size and mechanical integrity of the gels over time. Moreover, these materials were able to be electrospun into fibers that, upon hydration, formed fibrous hydrogel structures. The nonswellable and tunable mechanical properties of these materials imply great potential for a variety of applications such as personal care, active delivery, and tissue engineering.

Cell infiltrative hydrogel fibrous scaffolds for accelerated wound healing

Development of natural protein-based fibrous scaffolds with tunable physical properties and biocompatibility is highly desirable to construct three-dimensional (3D), fully cellularized scaffolds for wound healing. Herein, we demonstrated a simple and effective technique to construct electrospun 3D fibrous scaffolds for accelerated wound healing using a photocrosslinkable hydrogel based on gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA). We found that the physical properties of the photocrosslinkable hydrogel including water retention, stiffness, strength, elasticity and degradation can be tailored by changing the light exposure time. We further observed that the optimized hydrogel fibrous scaffolds which were soft and elastic could support cell adhesion, proliferation and migration into the whole scaffolds, facilitating regeneration and formation of cutaneous tissues within two weeks. Such tunable characteristics of the fibrous GelMA scaffolds distinguished them from other reported substrates developed for reconstruction of wound defects including glutaraldehyde-crosslinked gelatin or poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), whose physical and chemical properties were difficult to modify to allow cell infiltration into the 3D scaffolds for tissue regeneration. We anticipate that the ability to become fully cellularized will make the engineered GelMA fibrous scaffolds suitable for widespread applications as skin substitutes or wound dressings.

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

In present study, we generate three-dimensional photocrosslinkable gelatin (GelMA)-based fibrous scaffolds with tunable physical and biological properties by using a combined photocrosslinking/electrospinning approach. The developed GelMA fibrous scaffolds can not only support cell viability and cell adhesion, but also facilitate cell migration and proliferation, accelerating regeneration and formation of cutaneous tissues. In addition, the physical properties of the engineered fibrous GelMA hydrogel including water retention capability, mechanical properties and biodegradability can be tuned to accommodate different patients' needs, making it a promising candidate for skin tissue engineering.

Smart Polymeric Hydrogels for Cartilage Tissue Engineering: A Review on the Chemistry and Biological Functions

Stimuli responsive hydrogels (SRHs) are attractive bioscaffolds for tissue engineering. The structural similarity of SRHs to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of many tissues offers great advantages for a minimally invasive tissue repair. Among various potential applications of SRHs, cartilage regeneration has attracted significant attention. The repair of cartilage damage is challenging in orthopedics owing to its low repair capacity. Recent advances include development of injectable hydrogels to minimize invasive surgery with nanostructured features and rapid stimuli-responsive characteristics. Nanostructured SRHs with more structural similarity to natural ECM up-regulate cell-material interactions for faster tissue repair and more controlled stimuli-response to environmental changes. This review highlights most recent advances in the development of nanostructured or smart hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering. Different types of stimuli-responsive hydrogels are introduced and their fabrication processes through physicochemical procedures are reported. The applications and characteristics of natural and synthetic polymers used in SRHs are also reviewed with an outline on clinical considerations and challenges.