Biomaterials for Soft Tissue Repair and Regeneration: A Focus on Italian Research in the Field

Abstract

Tissue repair and regeneration is an interdisciplinary field focusing on developing bioactive substitutes aimed at restoring pristine functions of damaged, diseased tissues. Biomaterials, intended as those materials compatible with living tissues after in vivo administration, play a pivotal role in this area and they have been successfully studied and developed for several years. Namely, the researches focus on improving bio-inert biomaterials that well integrate in living tissues with no or minimal tissue response, or bioactive materials that influence biological response, stimulating new tissue re-growth. This review aims to gather and introduce, in the context of Italian scientific community, cutting-edge advancements in biomaterial science applied to tissue repair and regeneration. After introducing tissue repair and regeneration, the review focuses on biodegradable and biocompatible biomaterials such as collagen, polysaccharides, silk proteins, polyesters and their derivatives, characterized by the most promising outputs in biomedical science. Attention is pointed out also to those biomaterials exerting peculiar activities, e.g., antibacterial. The regulatory frame applied to pre-clinical and early clinical studies is also outlined by distinguishing between Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products and Medical Devices.

Decellularized Wharton Jelly Implants Do Not Trigger Collagen and Cartilaginous Tissue Production in Tracheal Injury in Rabbits

“…Unlike other biomaterials, decellularized WJ proved to be biotolerant and bioinert. It is known that a biomaterial is designated to be bioinert when it integrates with living tissue generating no response, and biotolerable when it does not trigger an immune or inflammatory response at the site of implantation [ 25 ].…”

Electrospun nanofibers for manipulating soft tissue regeneration

“…The key elements for soft tissue regeneration are to reduce the inflammatory response, promote angiogenesis, and avoid scarring. 20 Electrospun nanofiber scaffolds have great potential in the field of soft tissue regeneration. In this review, we discuss the most recent progress on the construction of electrospun fibers for promoting and manipulating the regeneration of soft tissues, which mainly include nerve, skin, heart, blood vessels, and cornea.…”

Enhancing Stem Cell-Based Therapeutic Potential by Combining Various Bioengineering Technologies

“…The therapeutic effects are largely dependent on the reciprocal interactions between the transplanted biomaterials with specific mechanical characteristics and 3D microenvironment of targeted tissues ( Barthes et al, 2014 ; Nicolas et al, 2020 ; Antmen et al, 2021 ). For example, relatively strong mechanical properties may be required to regenerate hard tissues such as bones or teeth which may be subjected to weight-loading or strain ( Mastrogiacomo et al, 2019 ), whereas porous, soft, and highly viscose biomaterials are needed to restore the functions of the soft tissues such as skin and internal organs ( Bonferoni et al, 2021 ).…”

“…A number of naturally derived and synthetic biomaterials have been currently developed to restore the function and structure of damaged tissues ( Park S. R. et al, 2021 ; Mazzoni et al, 2021 ). Indeed, various biodegradable protein-based natural polymers, including collagen, fibrin, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, and poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid have been widely used to construct scaffolds for the regeneration of multiple tissues such as bone, cartilage, ligament, neural tissues, skin, skeletal muscle, and blood vessels ( Rice et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Bonferoni et al, 2021 ).…”