Advances in Functional Assemblies for Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

The ability to synthesise bioresponsive systems and selectively active biochemistries using polymer-based materials with supramolecular features has led to a surge in research interest directed towards their development as next generation biomaterials for drug delivery, medical device design and tissue engineering.

From nucleobase to DNA templates for precision supramolecular assemblies and synthetic polymers

“…This inspiration has been boosted by the great advances in biotechnological tools concerning nucleic acids' automated synthesis, selection, amplification, and organization, which have spread the use of DNA in many areas of (bio)materials science and nanoscience. [1][2][3][4][5][6] The design of DNA junctions, DNA origami, and DNA crystals has opened the door to scaffolding from 2D to 3D from the sub-nm scale to the few hundreds of nm scale. 7 Notable recent examples include large origami up to the 300 nm wide, 8 and DNA reconfigurable devices of desired shape.…”

Multiparametric Material Functionality of Microtissue‐Based In Vitro Models as Alternatives to Animal Testing

“…[219] These microstructures form cleverly and complex assembled tissue imitations whose physicochemical and mechanical properties are comparable to those of conventional multifunctional polymer materials. [215] Further insights to that topic can be found in a review article by Ouyang et al that addresses various bottom-up strategies for assembling building blocks in tissue engineering. [220] Similar, preprogrammed properties are also exhibited by selfhealing materials, which can self-heal independently and automatically to return to their normal state.…”

“…They dynamically adapt to external conditions, enabling even more concrete mimicry of in vivo tissues than general multiparametric materials. [ 215 , 216 , 217 ] The more precisely synthetic materials adapt to natural structures and processes, the better the informative value of in vitro model systems will ultimately be and the faster animal testing can be replaced by artificial alternatives.…”

Fabricação de microambientes 3D para o desenvolvimento de micro-organismos

“…13 Além disso, plataformas biocompatíveis destinadas a estudos biológicos tem sido construídas para investigar o desenvolvimento de organismos eucariontes e procariontes nos ambientes microfabricados. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Plataformas foram criadas para avaliar o desenvolvimento de bactérias, 24 de células 25 e até mesmo de nematódeos Caenorhabditis elegans. 26 O Grupo de Fotônica do IFSC/USP estudou o desenvolvimento de células tumorais (MCF-7) em estruturas poliméricas de geometrias diversas, 27 bem como o desenvolvimento de Escherichia coli em microambientes funcionalizados com o antibiótico ciprofloxacina.…”