Editorial: Biomaterials in cardiovascular research: Models, methods, and therapies

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an exponential growth of novel biomaterial-based grafts, scaffolds, therapies, and diagnostic tools for cardiovascular systems. The advances in engineering biomaterials have resulted in biomedical implants with various functionalities tailored for the desired application. In the cardiovascular field, the application of biomaterials is often challenging but holds great promise. Heart and blood vessels are structurally complex tissues that are blood-contacting in nature and consistently under dynamic mechanical loading conditions. These biological and engineering challenges create unique opportunities for advanced biomaterial-based approaches to deepen our understanding of cell and tissue interaction and revolutionize novel therapeutics. To highlight the progress in the field, we launched this Research Topic to feature recent efforts in engineering novel biomaterials for cardiovascular repair and regeneration.This Research Topic includes two review articles summarizing the clinical use of bovine jugular vein conduits and drug-eluting stents, two common cardiovascular implants. Li et al. first reviewed the clinical outcomes of current bovine jugular vein conduits and their common causes of failure. More importantly, the authors proposed strategies to modify and design the next-generation of bovine jugular vein conduits which have the potential to overcome the complications of current implants. Meanwhile, Hu and Jiang focused on the restenosis of cardiovascular stents. The authors provided a comprehensive summary of clinical reports, diagnostic tools, and common mechanisms of in-stent restenosis. It is important to note that the failure mechanisms