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Topic Review
Thiolated-Polymer-Based Nanoparticles
Thiomers (or thiolated polymers) have broken through as avant-garde approaches in anticancer therapy. Their distinguished reactivity and properties, closely linked to their final applications, justify the extensive research conducted on their preparation and use as smart drug-delivery systems (DDSs).
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Biogenic Synthesis of Nanomaterials as Nanofertilizers
Nanotechnology is critically dependent on the usage of biosynthetic or “green” technologies, which are inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and produce minimal contamination.
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Metabolite-Based Hydrogels
Minimalistic peptide- and metabolite-based supramolecular hydrogels have great potential relative to traditional polymeric hydrogels in various biomedical and technological applications. Advantages such as remarkable biodegradability, high water content, favorable mechanical properties, biocompatibility, self-healing, synthetic feasibility, low cost, easy design, biological function, remarkable injectability, and multi-responsiveness to external stimuli make supramolecular hydrogels promising candidates for drug delivery, tissue engineering, tissue regeneration, and wound healing. Non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic interactions, and π–π stacking interactions play key roles in the formation of peptide- and metabolite-containing low-molecular-weight hydrogels. Peptide- and metabolite-based hydrogels display shear-thinning and immediate recovery behavior due to the involvement of weak non-covalent interactions, making them supreme models for the delivery of drug molecules. In the areas of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, pre-clinical evaluation, and numerous other biomedical applications, peptide- and metabolite-based hydrogelators with rationally designed architectures have intriguing uses. 
  • 1.2K
  • 03 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Approaches to Overcoming Existing Barriers of Curcumin
Turmeric contains curcumin, a naturally occurring compound with noted anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that may help fight cancer. Curcumin is readily available, nontoxic, and inexpensive. At high doses, it has minimal side effects, suggesting it is safe for human use. However, curcumin has extremely poor bioavailability and biodistribution, which further hamper its clinical applications. It is commonly administered through oral and transdermal routes in different forms, where the particle size is one of the most common barriers that decreases its absorption through biological membranes on the targeted sites and limits its clinical effectiveness.
  • 1.2K
  • 04 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Nano-Biomaterials for Retinal Regeneration
Nanoscience and nanotechnology have revolutionized key areas of environmental sciences, including biological and physical sciences. Nanoscience is useful in interconnecting these sciences to find new hybrid avenues targeted at improving daily life. Pharmaceuticals, regenerative medicine, and stem cell research are among the prominent segments of biological sciences that will be improved by nanostructure innovations. Nanoparticles, nanowires, hybrid nanostructures, and nanoscaffolds, that have been useful in mice for ocular tissue engineering and regeneration.
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Hydrogels via Diels–Alder Crosslinking
The Diels–Alder (DA) reaction is a promising tool for obtaining covalently crosslinked hydrogels due to its reaction bioorthogonality, the absence of by-products, and the application of mild conditions without a catalyst. The resulting hydrogels are in demand for use in various fields of materials science and biomedicine.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Polyelectrolyte Multilayers
Polyelectrolyte multilayers are thin organic films obtained by self-assembly of PEs with other charged/uncharged (macro)molecules using an LbL method. The physical and chemical architecture of PEMs can be determined from the nanoscopic level to the macroscopic level. Both weak and strong PEs can participate in the formation of multilayers together with other low molecular or macromolecular compounds (charged or uncharged), the properties of the obtained materials being dependent on the nature and characteristics of the partners involved in the deposition process.
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Lipid-Based Nano-Systems
Lipid-based delivery systems can be similarly designed to encapsulate and protect bioactive ingredients and enhance their functionality, stability, and bioavailability. Lipid-based delivery systems are composed of lipids such as triglycerides, phospholipids, and waxes, which form a stable matrix that can encapsulate various types of bioactive ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, and flavonoids.
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Peroxidase Mimetic Nanozymes in Cancer
Peroxidase (POD) mimetic nanozymes converts endogenous H2O2 to water (H2O) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a hypoxic tumor microenvironment is a fascinating approach.
  • 1.2K
  • 31 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Regenerative Medicine
The use of biological templates for the suitable growth of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSC) and “neo-tissue” construction has exponentially increased over the last years. The bioengineered scaffolds still have a prominent and biocompatible framework playing a role in tissue regeneration. In order to supply AD-MSCs, biomaterials, as the stem cell niche, are more often supplemented by or stimulate molecular signals that allow differentiation events into several strains, besides their secretion of cytokines and effects of immunomodulation. This systematic review aims to highlight the details of the integration of several types of biomaterials used in association with AD-MSCs, collecting notorious and basic data of in vitro and in vivo assays, taking into account the relevance of the interference of the cell lineage origin and handling cell line protocols for both the replacement and repairing of damaged tissues or organs in clinical application. Our group analyzed the quality and results of the 98 articles selected from PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 97% of the articles retrieved demonstrated the potential in clinical applications. The synthetic polymers were the most used biomaterials associated with AD-MSCs and almost half of the selected articles were applied on bone regeneration.
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Biomaterials in 3D Cell Culture
The process of evaluating the efficacy and toxicity of drugs is important in the production of new drugs to treat diseases. Testing in humans is the most accurate method, but there are technical and ethical limitations. To overcome these limitations, various models have been developed in which responses to various external stimuli can be observed to help guide future trials. In particular, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture has a great advantage in simulating the physical and biological functions of tissues in the human body. 
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Carbon-Based Nanomolecules Interacting with Proteins
Scientists are designing new ways to combine proteins and carbon-based nanomomecules. We review strategies of selecting proteins able to interact with proteins and typical van der Waals interactions. Proteins and carbon based nanomomecules can form ordered clusters of hybrid materials and will guide new projects for bioimaging tools and tuning of intrinsically disordered proteins.
  • 1.1K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Natural and Synthetic Polymeric Biomaterials in Wound Management
Biomaterials are at the forefront of the future, finding a variety of applications in the biomedical field, especially in wound healing, thanks to their biocompatible and biodegradable properties. Wounds spontaneously try to heal through a series of interconnected processes involving several initiators and mediators such as cytokines, macrophages, and fibroblasts. The combination of biopolymers with wound healing properties may provide opportunities to synthesize matrices that stimulate and trigger target cell responses crucial to the healing process. 
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Lyotropic Liquid Crystals for Efficient Intestinal Lymphatic Targeting
Lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) are liquids that have crystalline structures. LLCs as drug delivery systems that can deliver hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and amphiphilic agents. Due to their unique phases and structures, LLCs can protect both small molecules and biologics from the gastrointestinal tract’s harsh environment, thus making LLCs attractive as carriers for oral drug delivery.
  • 1.1K
  • 30 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Microalgae Photo-Protectants for Skin Applications
Microalgae are photosynthetic organisms known for producing valuable metabolites under different conditions such as extreme temperatures, high salinity, osmotic pressure, and ultraviolet radiation. Microalgae can produce organic metabolites, such as sporopollenin, scytonemin, and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs)  to mention a few, and these metabolites have the purpose to protect the microalgae from ultraviolet (UV) radiation while allowing visible radiation involved in photosynthesis to pass through. This characteristic allows some microalgae to be tolerant to UV rays. The understanding of these secondary metabolites produced by algae has led to the creation of promising industrially relevant compounds. The growing concern regarding the ecologically and dermatologically noxious implications of current sun protectants has brought with it the need for a safer alternative. MAAs are the most studied photo-protectant in marine organisms due to their relevance. They are abundant in various aquatic and terrestrial environments and are known for being eco-sustainable compounds since they are the outcome of the evolution of algae. Unlike their synthetic counterparts used unconventional sunscreens, there are no possibilities for pollution caused by them. Thus, algal metabolites shape the safety and sustainability profiles of commercial sunscreens.
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Corrosion of Fixed Orthodontic Appliances
The orthodontic supply market is a prosperous billion-dollar industry, driven by an increasing demand for orthodontic appliances. The supremacy of metallic first-generation biomaterials is evident for manufacturing brackets, archwires, bands, and other components due to their well-recognized chemical inertness, spontaneous passivation, biocompatibility, and favorable mechanical properties combination. However, the oral cavity is the ultimate corrosion-promoting environment for any metallic material.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Nucleation and Growth of Biominerals
Biominerals are extraordinary materials that provide organisms with a variety of functions to support life. The synthesis of biominerals and organization at the macroscopic level is a consequence of the interactions of these materials with proteins. The association of biominerals and proteins is very ancient and has sparked a wealth of research across biological, medical and material sciences. Calcium carbonate, hydroxyapatite, and silica represent widespread natural biominerals. The atomic details of the interface between macromolecules and these biominerals is very intriguing from a chemical perspective, considering the association of chemical entities that are structurally different.
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Marine Verongiid Demosponge Lanthella Basta
Marine sponges were among the first multicellular organisms on our planet and have survived to this day thanks to their unique mechanisms of chemical defense and the specific design of their skeletons, which have been optimized over millions of years of evolution to effectively inhabit the aquatic environment. Ianthella basta (Pallas, 1766) is one of the largest, fan-shaped marine demosponges that can reach up to 2.5 m both in height; and the body of which is a micro-reticular, durable structure that determines the ideal filtration function of this organism. Calcite biomineral is responsible for nano-tuning the chitinous skeletal fibers of this sponge species.
  • 1.1K
  • 07 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Lignocellulosic Materials for the Biofuels, Biochemicals and Biomaterials
It is well known that with the increasing issues of climate change, waste management and unstoppable resource exhaustion, politics and research efforts need to be combined in the search for new materials and sources that can replace fossil fuels and non-renewable resources currently in use, which besides generally include hazardous/toxic manufacture protocols and problematic end-of-life. It is at this point that lignocellulosic sources can play a fundamental role as a consequence of their natural origin, ubiquitous production all over the world, minimum carbon footprint and the interesting properties of their main components.
  • 1.1K
  • 20 May 2022
Topic Review
Hydrogels as Biomaterials for Wound Dressings
Wound management remains a challenging issue around the world, although a lot of wound dressing materials have been produced for the treatment of chronic and acute wounds. Wound healing is a highly dynamic and complex regulatory process that involves four principal integrated phases, including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. Chronic non-healing wounds are wounds that heal significantly more slowly, fail to progress to all the phases of the normal wound healing process, and are usually stalled at the inflammatory phase. These wounds cause a lot of challenges to patients, such as severe emotional and physical stress and generate a considerable financial burden on patients and the general public healthcare system. It has been reported that about 1–2% of the global population suffers from chronic non-healing wounds during their lifetime in developed nations. Traditional wound dressings are dry, and therefore cannot provide moist environment for wound healing and do not possess antibacterial properties. Wound dressings that are currently used consist of bandages, films, foams, patches and hydrogels. Currently, hydrogels are gaining much attention as a result of their water-holding capacity, providing a moist wound-healing milieu. 
  • 1.1K
  • 12 Dec 2022
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