Biopolymers and supramolecular polymers as biomaterials for biomedical applications

Abstract

Protein- and peptide-based structural biopolymers are abundant building blocks of biological systems. Either in their natural forms, such as collagen, silk or fibronectin, or as related synthetic materials they can be used in various technologies. An emerging area is that of biomimetic materials inspired by protein-based biopolymers, which are made up of small molecules rather than macromolecules and can therefore be described as supramolecular polymers. These materials are very useful in biomedical applications because of their ability to imitate the extracellular matrix both in architecture and their capacity to signal cells. This article describes important features of the natural extracellular matrix and highlight how these features are being incorporated into biomaterials composed of biopolymers and supramolecular polymers. We particularly focus on the structures, properties, and functions of collagen, fibronectin, silk, and the supramolecular polymers inspired by them as biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

Self‐Assembled Peptide‐Based Nanomaterials for Biomedical Imaging and Therapy

“…Among those efforts, mimicking the biomineralization of bone, the main biomineral composite of the human body, would be an effective method for practical applications in human hard tissue regeneration . Stupp and co‐workers utilized peptide amphiphiles to fabricate scaffolds for bone growth and regeneration . They developed peptide amphiphiles comprising a hydrophobic alkyl tail linked to an electrostatically charged peptide sequence of amino acids with a strong β‐sheet propensity, cell‐adhesive RGD ligands, and a phosphorylated serine residue that attracts calcium ions, promoting the mineralization of bone minerals such as hydroxyapatite [Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ].…”

Peptide hormones and lipopeptides: from self‐assembly to therapeutic applications

“…This was due to the nanofibrils inhibiting scar formation, which helped lessen the injury [41]. This is a fascinating and broad topic that has been reviewed in much detail elsewhere by the Stupp group and is therefore outside the scope of the present review [42][43][44][45][46][47].…”

Cardiovascular Regenerative Technologies: Update and Future Outlook

“…Many studies have investigated various fabrication techniques in order to generate novel structures for tissue engineering applications, e.g. polymers assembled with various electrospun designs [43,44,45,46]. Today's attempts in developing scaffolds for tissue engineering are proceeding in two directions and are based on the use of more or less complex polymers from different sources that are either i) fully synthetic or based on ii) biological matrices.…”