Collagen is the oldest and most abundant extracellular matrix protein that has found many applications in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries. First, an overview of the family of collagens and their respective structures, conformation, and biosynthesis is provided. The advances and shortfalls of various collagen preparations (e.g., mammalian/marine extracted collagen, cell‐produced collagens, recombinant collagens, and collagen‐like peptides) and crosslinking technologies (e.g., chemical, physical, and biological) are then critically discussed. Subsequently, an array of structural, thermal, mechanical, biochemical, and biological assays is examined, which are developed to analyze and characterize collagenous structures. Lastly, a comprehensive review is provided on how advances in engineering, chemistry, and biology have enabled the development of bioactive, 3D structures (e.g., tissue grafts, biomaterials, cell‐assembled tissue equivalents) that closely imitate native supramolecular assemblies and have the capacity to deliver in a localized and sustained manner viable cell populations and/or bioactive/therapeutic molecules. Clearly, collagens have a long history in both evolution and biotechnology and continue to offer both challenges and exciting opportunities in regenerative medicine as nature's biomaterial of choice.

Collagens are the most abundant high molecular weight proteins in both invertebrate and vertebrate organisms, including mammals, and possess mainly a structural role, existing different types according with their specific organization in distinct tissues. From this, they have been elected as one of the key biological materials in tissue regeneration approaches. Also, industry is constantly searching for new natural sources of collagen and upgraded methodologies for their production. The most common sources are from bovine and porcine origin, but other ways are making their route, such as recombinant production, but also extraction from marine organisms like fish. Different organisms have been proposed and explored for collagen extraction, allowing the sustainable production of different types of collagens, with properties depending on the kind of organism (and their natural environment) and extraction methodology. Such variety of collagen properties has been further investigated in different ways to render a wide range of applications. The present review aims to shed some light on the contribution of marine collagens for the scientific and technological development of this sector, stressing the opportunities and challenges that they are and most probably will be facing to assume a role as an alternative source for industrial exploitation.

Collagen-based devices, in various physical conformations, are extensively used for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Given that the natural cross-linking pathway of collagen does not occur in vitro, chemical, physical, and biological cross-linking methods have been assessed over the years to control mechanical stability, degradation rate, and immunogenicity of the device upon implantation. Although in vitro data demonstrate that mechanical properties and degradation rate can be accurately controlled as a function of the cross-linking method utilized, preclinical and clinical data indicate that cross-linking methods employed may have adverse effects on host response, especially when potent cross-linking methods are employed. Experimental data suggest that more suitable cross-linking methods should be developed to achieve a balance between stability and functional remodeling.

Wound healing requires a fine balance between the positive and deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS); a group of extremely potent molecules, rate limiting in successful tissue regeneration. A balanced ROS response will debride and disinfect a tissue and stimulate healthy tissue turnover; suppressed ROS will result in infection and an elevation in ROS will destroy otherwise healthy stromal tissue. Understanding and anticipating the ROS niche within a tissue will greatly enhance the potential to exogenously augment and manipulate healing. Tissue engineering solutions to augment successful healing and remodelling of wounded or diseased tissue rely on a controlled balance between the constructive and destructive capacity of the leukocyte secretome, including ROS. This review comprehensively considers leukocyte derived ROS in tissue repair with particular interest in surgical intervention with inclusion of a biomaterial. The article considers ROS fundamental chemistry, formation, stimulation and clearance before applying this to discuss the implications of ROS in healing tissue with and without a biomaterial. We also systematically discuss ROS in leukocyte signalling and compare and contrast experimental means of measuring ROS.

The pathophysiology of spinal cord injury (SCI) involves post-traumatic inflammation and glial scarring which interfere with repair and recovery. Self-assembling peptides (SAPs) are molecules designed for tissue engineering. Here, we tested the performance of K2(QL)6K2 (QL6), a SAP that attenuates inflammation and glial scarring, and facilitates functional recovery. We injected QL6 into the spinal cord tissue of rats 24 h after clip compression SCI. QL6 led to a significant reduction in post-traumatic apoptosis, inflammation and astrogliosis. It also resulted in significant tissue preservation as determined by quantitative histomorphometry. Furthermore, QL6 promoted axonal preservation/regeneration, demonstrated by BDA anterograde and Fluorogold retrograde tracing. In vitro experiments found that a QL6 scaffold enhanced neuronal differentiation and suppressed astrocytic development. The electrophysiology confirmed that QL6 led to significant functional improvement of axons, including increased conduction velocity, reduced refractoriness and enhanced high-frequency conduction. These neuroanatomical and electrophysiological improvements were associated with significant neurobehavioral recovery as assessed by the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan technique. As the first detailed examination of the pathophysiological properties of QL6 in SCI, this work reveals the therapeutic potential of SAPs, and may suggest an approach for the reconstruction of the injured spinal cord.

No abstract

Activation of macrophages is critical in the acute phase of wound healing after implantation of surgical biomaterials. To understand the response of macrophages, they are often cultured in vitro on biomaterials. Since a wide range of biomaterials is currently used in the clinics, we undertook a systematic review of the macrophage polarization in response to these different surgical biomaterials in vitro. Beside the chemistry, material characteristics such as dimension, pore size, and surface topography are of great influence on the response of macrophages. The macrophage response also appears to depend on the differences in sterilization techniques that induce lasting biochemical changes or residues of chemicals and their byproducts used for sterilization. Regarding tissue-based biomaterials, macrophages on human or porcine dermis, strongly cross-linked by chemicals elicit in general a proinflammatory response with higher amounts of proinflammatory cytokines. Synthetic biomaterials such as polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) + polyacrylamide (PAAm), PET + sodium salt of poly(acrylic acid) (PAANa), perfluoropolyether (PFPE) with large posts, PEG-g-PA, and polydioxanone (PDO) always appear to elicit an anti-inflammatory response in macrophages, irrespective of origin of the macrophages, for example, buffy coats or full blood. In conclusion, in general in vitro models contribute to evaluate the foreign body reaction on surgical biomaterials. Although it is difficult to simulate complexity of host response elicited by biomaterials, after their surgical implantation, an in vitro model gives indications of the initial foreign body response and allows the comparison of this response between biomaterials.

These data indicate that macrophage phenotype modulation can be used to guide joint inflammation and thereby contribute to the development of new therapies to delay the progression of OA. The varying effects of the compounds on synovium of different degrees of inflammation, indicate that the modulatory capacity of the compounds depends on OA stage and underlines the importance of identifying this stadium for adequate treatment.