Progress in the Development of Graphene-Based Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

Abstract

Over the last few decades, tissue engineering has become an important technology for repairing and rebuilding damaged tissues and organs. The scaffold plays an important role and has become a hot pot in the field of tissue engineering. It has sufficient mechanical and biochemical properties and simulates the structure and function of natural tissue to promote the growth of cells inward. Therefore, graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs), such as graphene and graphene oxide (GO), have attracted wide attention in the field of biomedical tissue engineering because of their unique structure, large specific surface area, good photo-thermal effect, pH response and broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. In this review, the structure and properties of typical GBNs are summarized, the progress made in the development of GBNs in soft tissue engineering (including skin, muscle, nerve and blood vessel) are highlighted, the challenges and prospects of the application of GBNs in soft tissue engineering have prospected.

Development of an Oriented Co-Culture System Using 3D Scaffolds Fabricated via Non-Linear Lithography

“…The lyophilized coverslips were dried, and a droplet (15 µL) of material was deposited in the center. The droplets were then heated at 85 • C for 2 1 2 h, to remove any excess moisture and to make the material obtain a gel-like composition. The procedure was conducted at RT and in the absence of light.…”

“…More specifically, 15 µL of the material was deposited in the center of a coverslip, which was spin-coated at 4000 rpm for 40 s with an acceleration step of 500 rpm/s. The thin films were then heated for 2 1 2 hours at 85 • C to remove any excess moisture. Afterward, they were placed under a UV light overnight to polymerize the resins.…”

“…This setup can produce large and bulky structures in a time-effective manner where structure resolution is only a secondary concern. To highlight the efficiency of the system, each individual scaffold needed approximately 2 1 2 min to be completely fabricated. Six individual scaffolds were fabricated per coverslip adding up to a final fabrication time of approximately 15 min.…”

“…If not properly treated, damage can lead to tissue/organ malfunction or even loss of function, severely impairing the lives of patients. Tissue engineering (TE) is an emerging research field that aims to restore damaged tissues by utilizing scaffolds to act as platforms for cell cultures [1]. The ultimate goal of TE is to replace dysfunctional tissues and/or organs on demand using cells originating from each individual patient [2].…”

Rheological Properties of Different Graphene Nanomaterials in Biological Media

“…Graphenes are used in a broad variety of applications, including quantum physics, nanoelectronics, catalysis, nanocomposites, and sensor technology [ 9 , 10 ]. It has been also reported that they exhibit strong antibacterial toxicity [ 11 , 12 ] and are very useful in several medical applications, including therapeutics, diagnostics, and regenerative medicine [ 13 , 14 ]; therefore, one main focal point of the application of graphene-based materials is in the field of nanomedicine. Many studies have attempted to exploit them for drug delivery or imaging, since they can solubilize and bind drug molecules because of their large surface area and delocalized π electrons [ 13 , 15 ].…”