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As demands for innovative drug carriers and transplantable organs increase, many researchers have developed diverse drug carriers and scaffolds using various materials. However, several candidate materials have shown systemic toxicity, making them unsuitable for clinical use. Fibrinogen (Fbg), a natural polymer, could be a promising material for applications in biomedical engineering owing to its biocompatibility and biodegradability, as reported in numerous studies. Moreover, autologous Fbg is abundant in blood and can be easily extracted, presenting Fbg as an excellent biomaterial for biomedical applications due to minimal immunological rejection. In addition, the biocompatibility of other materials could be improved by combining them with Fbg. Over the next few years, Fbg could be widely used in various biomedical and clinical fields. Here, we discuss the characteristics of Fbg and fabricating methods for Fbg scaffolds in various biomedical applications. The future prospects of Fbg as an applicable biomaterial, especially in organ fabrication by the cutting-edge 3D bioprinting technology, are also presented.

In the development of effective drug delivery carriers, many researchers have focused on the usage of nontoxic and biocompatible materials and surface modification with targeting molecules for tumor-specific drug delivery. Fibrinogen (Fbg), an abundant glycoprotein in plasma, could be a potential candidate for developing drug carriers because of its biocompatibility and tumor-targeting property via arginine–glycine–aspartate (RGD) peptide sequences. Doxorubicin (DOX), a chemotherapeutic agent, was covalently conjugated to Fbg, and the microspheres were prepared. Acid-labile and non-cleavable linkers were used for the conjugation of DOX to Fbg, resulting in an acid-triggered drug release under a mild acidic condition and a slow-controlled drug release, respectively. In vitro cytotoxicity tests confirmed low cytotoxicity in normal cells and high antitumor effect toward cancer cells. In addition, it was discovered that a longer linker could make the binding of cells to Fbg drug carriers easier. Therefore, DOX–linker–Fbg microspheres could be a suitable drug carrier for safer and effective drug delivery.

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