Engineered Hydrogels in Cancer Therapy and Diagnosis

Three‐dimensional liver‐derived extracellular matrix hydrogel promotes liver organoids function

“…45 Researchers designed 3D-cell culture systems by using a liver ECM hydrogel or scaffolds. 19 In a 3D culture system, biochemical and biomechanical properties of the matrix and the interaction between mesenchymal and endothelial cells have been shown to promote cellular functionality. 14,25,46 Matrix stiffness can affect cellular self-assembly, 7,19 direct lineage specification of stem cells, 47 and liver progenitors, 14 providing a potential for biomaterial impact over the final organoid structure.…”

Designer Self‐Assembling Peptide Hydrogels to Engineer 3D Cell Microenvironments for Cell Constructs Formation and Precise Oncology Remodeling in Ovarian Cancer

“…Generally, hydrogels are mainly composed of hydrophilic polymeric scaffolds that absorb large amounts of water, so the hydrogel matrix better mimics elastic and viscoelastic properties in ECM and microscale topographies of cell matrices, which controls proper cell morphology, directs viable cell behaviors, and drives in vivo fundamental cell–cell or cell–ECM interactions. [ 4 ] To recapitulate pathophysiological features of human tumors and imitate various aspects of human tumorigenesis in vivo, hydrogels can provide a realistic platform to establish a useful bridge between in vitro assays and in vivo cell microenvironments. In current biomedical applications, there are many kinds of hydrogels to be developed to mimic the biological properties of ECM, such as bulk hydrogels, porous scaffolds, fibrous scaffolds, hydrogel microspheres, hydrogel sandwich systems, microwells, and 3D bioprinted constructs.…”

“…In current biomedical applications, there are many kinds of hydrogels to be developed to mimic the biological properties of ECM, such as bulk hydrogels, porous scaffolds, fibrous scaffolds, hydrogel microspheres, hydrogel sandwich systems, microwells, and 3D bioprinted constructs. [ 4a,5 ] Key component in hydrogels is scaffold biomaterial. Pioneered in the 1990s by Zhang and his colleagues performing studies on self‐assembling peptides to serve as ECM for 3D cell culture, [ 6 ] we have witnessed a concomitant development of biomimetic scaffold biomaterials that mimic the native ECM in vivo at nanoscale and physiologically engineer the cell microenvironment in 3D culture models.…”

“…Pioneered in the 1990s by Zhang and his colleagues performing studies on self‐assembling peptides to serve as ECM for 3D cell culture, [ 6 ] we have witnessed a concomitant development of biomimetic scaffold biomaterials that mimic the native ECM in vivo at nanoscale and physiologically engineer the cell microenvironment in 3D culture models. [ 4–7 ] In natural scaffold biomaterials (e.g., Matrigel, collagen I, silk, and decellularized ECM), [ 7b ] their physicochemical properties cannot be readily or independently manufactured or decorated to mimic the ECM of specific disease. In the contrary, synthetic biomaterials can be artificially designed, accurately tuned, and overly modified to mimic the native cell microenvironments and the key factors in ECM components, [ 4b,5 ] For example, a biomimetic type of synthetic hydrogel composed of hyaluronic acid (HA) is rationally designed to mimic the ECM of the diseased lung and reconstruct the complex mechanisms of cell invasion and cell viability in 3D context, where the HA polymer backbone is modified with furan motifs to form tissue‐specific ECMs.…”

Aggregation‐Induced Electrochemiluminescence by Metal‐Binding Protein Responsive Hydrogel Scaffolds

“…Nano or micro‐sized hydrogels have been a focus in multifarious biomedical fields, such as biosensing, antibacterial, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and construction of ionotronic devices, due to their excellent biocompatibility, porous polymeric networks, and stretchable mechanistic properties . The introduction of different types of physical and chemical stimuli endows the hydrogels with versatile features, facilitating the fabrication of electric‐magnetic, light, thermo, acoustic, pH, and biomolecule‐responsive soft materials .…”