Cytocompatible performance of thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanoparticles

Synthetic Nanopillars for Stimulating Osteoblast Activity and Osteointegration in Bone-Related Disorders

Osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and fractures are bone-related disorders that have a huge impact on the quality of life and healthcare systems worldwide. Traditional treatments, including bone grafts, have their limitations, with bone grafts often being rejected by the immune system and infected, making new treatments necessary. Nanopillars based on synthetic polymers have been demonstrated to be promising tools for bone regeneration and repair, showing to emulate the extracellular matrix composition, stimulate osteoblast activity and induce osteointegration. In this review, nanopillars fabrication techniques, such as electrospinning, nanoimprint lithography and self-assembly, also the state of the art of nanopillars technology are presented. Their role in modulating cellular responses via both physical and biochemical means, to enhance mineralization and to stabilize implants is also discussed. Additionally, their applications in treating bone-related disorders, eg promotion of fracture healing, augmentation of dental or orthopedic implants, and improvement of bone tissue engineering are discussed in the review. Using these focuses, each section examines opportunities and challenges (eg optimizing fabrication processes, improving biocompatibility, and investigating the integration of nanopillars with upcoming therapies like gene and stem cell therapy) for the potential of nanopillar technology. Finally, this review points out the requirement of scalable fabrication techniques, long term biocompatibility studies and multifunctional therapeutic strategies to fully employ the therapeutic applications of nanopillars in clinical scenarios. This review seeks to consolidate current knowledge of synthetic polymer based nanopillars and identify future directions for their use in bone related disorders through a comprehensive synthetic polymer nanopillar review.

Hyaluronic acid/EDC/NHS-crosslinked green electrospun silk fibroin nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering

The mechanical properties of SF nanofibrous matrices were enhanced through crosslinking with HA/EDC/NHS for soft tissue engineering.

Recent advances of thermally responsive nanogels for cancer therapy

Thermally responsive nanogel drug delivery systems (TRNDDS) have been widely investigated as a new strategy for active targeting tumor therapy, as these can accumulate on the tumor site and/or release the payload at the desired site by structure changes rapidly once stimulated by temperature changes. In this review, we discuss the evolution of TRNDDS and future perspectives for antitumor drug and gene delivery. With further understanding of the specificity of tumor site at the cellular and molecular level, in parallel with the development of nanomaterial design and preparation, TRNDDS show great potential for tumor targeting therapy.

Oxidation- and thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) hydrogels cross-linked via diselenides for controlled drug delivery

A novel diselenide crosslinked poly(NIPAM-co-HEA) hydrogel was successfully synthesized, which exhibits a dual-stimuli-responsive drug release behaviors,i.e., thermo-induced slow sustained release and oxidation-induced quick burst release.

Nano-structured smart hydrogels with rapid response and high elasticity

Smart hydrogels, or stimuli-responsive hydrogels, are three-dimensional networks composed of crosslinked hydrophilic polymer chains that are able to dramatically change their volume and other properties in response to environmental stimuli such as temperature, pH and certain chemicals. Rapid and significant response to environmental stimuli and high elasticity are critical for the versatility of such smart hydrogels. Here we report the synthesis of smart hydrogels which are rapidly responsive, highly swellable and stretchable, by constructing a nano-structured architecture with activated nanogels as nano-crosslinkers. The nano-structured smart hydrogels show very significant and rapid stimuli-responsive characteristics, as well as highly elastic properties to sustain high compressions, resist slicing and withstand high level of deformation, such as bending, twisting and extensive stretching. Because of the concurrent rapid and significant stimuli-response and high elasticity, these nano-structured smart hydrogels may expand the scope of hydrogel applications, and provide enhanced performance in their applications.

Smart hydrogels are 3D networks composed of cross-linked polymer chains that can alter their shape and properties in response to environmental stimuli. Xia et al. demonstrate a smart hydrogel with rapid response and high elasticity, due to its nano-scale structure.