Nature-Based Biomaterials and Their Application in Biomedicine

Abstract

Natural polymers, based on proteins or polysaccharides, have attracted increasing interest in recent years due to their broad potential uses in biomedicine. The chemical stability, structural versatility, biocompatibility and high availability of these materials lend them to diverse applications in areas such as tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound healing. Biomaterials purified from animal or plant sources have also been engineered to improve their structural properties or promote interactions with surrounding cells and tissues for improved in vivo performance, leading to novel applications as implantable devices, in controlled drug release and as surface coatings. This review describes biomaterials derived from and inspired by natural proteins and polysaccharides and highlights their promise across diverse biomedical fields. We outline current therapeutic applications of these nature-based materials and consider expected future developments in identifying and utilising innovative biomaterials in new biomedical applications.

The Effect of Nanoparticle-Incorporated Natural-Based Biomaterials towards Cells on Activated Pathways: A Systematic Review

“…Therefore, we discussed the essential characteristics and functional application of nanoparticle-incorporated natural-based biomaterials, the biology of cellular functions associated with multiple signaling pathways in mediating wound healing, and tissue engineering applications as well. Polymer natural-based biomaterials show high benefits that are well-documented in the literature [ 124 , 125 ]. A large number of the studies showed positive outcomes from physical and biological aspects (cellular interactions), for nanoparticles incorporated with scaffolding compared to scaffolding without nanoparticles incorporated [ 126 , 127 ].…”

Advances for the treatment of lower extremity arterial disease associated with diabetes mellitus

“…Biomaterials are one of the significant components of tissue engineering, acting as an extracellular matrix (ECM) and promoting cell migration, tube formation, tissue maturation and wound healing ( Zhang et al, 2013 ; Lee et al, 2014 ). There are numerous ways to classify biomaterials; for example, according to the origins, biomaterials can be classified as natural or synthetic materials ( Troy et al, 2021 ). Researchers use these biomaterials to prepare tissue engineering materials with different structural forms and diverse functions, such as hydrogels, microneedles, nanoparticles and scaffolds, etc.…”

3D Printing of Cellulase-Laden Cellulose Nanofiber/Chitosan Hydrogel Composites: Towards Tissue Engineering Functional Biomaterials with Enzyme-Mediated Biodegradation

“…The nature, composition and properties of the biomaterials used to prepare the inks as well as the cell types are, among others, essential aspects having an impact on the biofabrication process, physico-chemical features and properties of the resulting 3D scaffolds [ 16 , 17 ]. In this context, natural polymers are generally more attractive than synthetic polymers due to their biocompatibility, possible biodegradability and bioactivity and ability to mimic the properties of the natural extracellular matrix [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Natural hydrogels made from polymers, such as alginate [ 22 , 23 , 24 ], gelatin [ 25 , 26 ], cellulose [ 27 , 28 ] and collagen [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], are the most commonly studied materials for the development of 3D constructs by micro-extrusion.…”