Biomaterials Science Blog

We are very pleased to announce that Professor Lichen Yin has been appointed as an Associate Editor for Biomaterials Science.

Lichen Yin is a Professor in the Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University. His research interest is focused on the engineering of polymeric and/or bio-inspired nanomaterials that can overcome multiple physiological barriers and deliver biomacromolecular drugs such as nucleic acids, proteins, and peptides. His research works to create new technologies and therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, etc. He is the recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (NSFC, 2023), and is the “Distinguished Professor’’ of Jiangsu Province.

Submit your manuscript to Professor Yin

Read Professor Yin’s Biomaterials Science articles:

One-pot synthesis of dynamically cross-linked polymers for serum-resistant nucleic acid delivery Zhisong Sun, Mengyao Ren, Bingchen Shan, Qiang Yang, Ziyin Zhao, Xun Liu and Lichen Yin  Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 5653-5662

Spherical α-helical polypeptide-mediated E2F1 silencing against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) Rongying Zhu, Mengying Hou, Yang Zhou, Huan Ye, Lei Chen, Chenglong Ge, Shanzhou Duan, Lichen Yin and Yongbing Chen  Biomater. Sci., 2022, 10, 6258-6266

A near-infrared light-controlled, oxygen-independent radical generating nano-system toward cancer therapy Desheng Cao, Hua He, Wei Li, Jin Yan, Jianhua Wu, Mengyuan Yin, Yang Zhou, Zhuchao Zhou and Lichen Yin   Biomater. Sci., 2021, 9, 4054-4065

Cytosolic protein delivery via metabolic glycoengineering and bioorthogonal click reactions Ziyin Zhao, Zhimin Zhang, Shanzhou Duan, Xun Liu, Renxiang Zhou, Mengying Hou, Yonghua Sang, Rongying Zhu and Lichen Yin Biomater. Sci., 2021, 9, 4639-4647

Cancer cell-targeted cisplatin prodrug delivery in vivo via metabolic labeling and bioorthogonal click reaction Xun Liu, Fan Wu, Kaimin Cai, Ziyin Zhao, Zhimin Zhang, Yongbing Chen, Yong Liu, Jianjun Cheng and Lichen Yin  Biomater. Sci., 2021, 9, 1301-1312

All the highlighted articles are currently FREE to read until January 31^st 2024!

Chuan Zhang is a Professor in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests focus on the developments of novel functional nucleic acids and nucleic acid-based therapeutics, nucleic acid nanotechnology and supramolecular self-assembly, as well as drug and gene delivery. He was the recipient of the Qiu Shi Outstanding Young Scholar Award (Qiu Shi Science & Technologies Foundation, Hong Kong, 2014) and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (NSFC, 2022).

He has given his thoughts on Biomaterials Science as a journal and its future directions:

“In my feeling, I believe Biomaterials Science has established a good reputation in the related fields of chemistry, materials science and engineering, biology, as well as biotechnology and nanotechnology. In each issue, many smart ideas and new technology are published. Yet, the ultimate goal for publishing our research results is either revealing some new insights of fundamental principles or providing beneficial guidance for practical uses. Probably Biomaterials Science can try to draw more attention from doctors (a big group of researchers) working in different departments of the hospitals and publish more collaborative and clinic problem driven investigations. As such, Biomaterials Science will become a bridge between fundamental study and real translational application.”

Read some of  Professor Zhang’s Biomaterials Science articles.

Urokinase loaded black phosphorus nanosheets for sequential thrombolysis and reactive oxygen species scavenging in ischemic stroke treatment

Dongya Wang, Qianqian Zhao, Jingcan Qin, Yuanyuan Guo, Chuan Zhang and Yuehua Li

Biomater. Sci., 2022, 10, 4656-4666

A nucleic acid nanogel dually bears siRNA and CpG motifs for synergistic tumor immunotherapy

Qiushuang Zhang, Yuanyuan Guo, Lijuan Zhu, Xinlong Liu, Jiapei Yang, Yuehua Li, Xinyuan Zhu and Chuan Zhang

Biomater. Sci., 2021, 9, 4755-4764

Tirapazamine-embedded polyplatinum(iv) complex: a prodrug combo for hypoxia-activated synergistic chemotherapy

Dongbo Guo, Shuting Xu, Wumaier Yasen, Chuan Zhang, Jian Shen, Yu Huang, Dong Chen and Xinyuan Zhu

Biomater. Sci., 2020, 8, 694-701

Supramolecularly self-assembled nano-twin drug for reversing multidrug resistance

Chenwei Wu, Li Xu, Leilei Shi, Xihui Gao, Jing Li, Xinyuan Zhu and Chuan Zhang

Biomater. Sci., 2018, 6, 2261-2269

A fluorescent light-up aggregation-induced emission probe for screening gefitinib-sensitive non-small cell lung carcinoma

Yi Hu, Leilei Shi, Yue Su, Chuan Zhang, Xin Jin and Xinyuan Zhu
Biomater. Sci., 2017, 5, 792-799

Professor Zhang’s favourite recent Biomaterials Science articles

Professor Zhang has selected some recent publications in Biomaterials Science that he has found particularly interesting or insightful. These articles are all free to read until 31 July 2023.

Electrospun polymer fibers modified with FK506 for the long-term treatment of acute cardiac allograft rejection in a heart transplantation model

Cheng Deng, Qiaofeng Jin, Jia Xu, Wenpei Fu, Mengrong He, Lingling Xu, Yishu Song, Wenyuan Wang, Luyang Yi, Yihan Chen, Tang Gao, Jing Wang, Qing Lv, Yali Yang, Li Zhang and Mingxing Xie

Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 4032-4042

Brain-targeted ginkgolide B-modified carbonized polymer dots for alleviating cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury

Mingxi Yang, Xin Wei, Kailbo Pan, Zei Zhou, Yang Liu, Xiaodan Lv and Bai Yang

Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 3998-4008

Advanced biomaterials for human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) drug delivery

Zahra Nozhat, Shabnam Heydarzadeh, Mina Shahriari-Khalaji, Shibo Wang, M. Zubair Iqbal and Xiangdong Kong

Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 4094-4131

Successful batch and continuous lyophilization of mRNA LNP formulations depend on cryoprotectants and ionizable lipids

Alexander Lamoot, Joris Lammens, Emily De Lombaerde, Zifu Zhong, Mark Gontsarik, Yong Chen, Thomas R. M. De Beer and Bruno G. De Geest

Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 4094-4131.

All the highlighted articles are currently FREE to read until 31 July 2023!

Nasim Annabi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She received a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney. From 2011-2014, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Before joining UCLA in 2018, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. Dr. Annabi’s group has expertise in the design and engineering of advanced biomaterials for applications in regenerative medicine. In addition, her research team has devised innovative strategies for the development of advanced bioadhesives and surgical sealants with high clinical translation for surgical applications. Her innovations have resulted in 15 patents and generated significant commercial interest. Dr Annabi has been recognized with several national and international awards including the 2021 Biomaterials Science Lectureship Award, the 2021 Young Investigator Award from the Society for Biomaterials, the 2020 Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Young Investigator Award of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Australian Prestigious Endeavour Award, and the National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Award. She can be found on Twitter @nasimannabi.

Nasim has given her thoughts and insight on the future of the biomaterials field:

“Recent advances in biomaterials design have created new platforms for engineering innovative medical devices and drug delivery systems for a wide range of therapeutic applications. However, clinical translation of these platforms as reliable and effective technologies remain a challenge. The future of the biomaterials field should focus on merging smart biomaterials with personalized medicine and additive manufacturing to create more effective and safe in vitro platforms for developing drugs and testing medical devices for rapid scale-up and commercialization. The journal Biomaterials Science has successfully integrated various expertise in biological and materials science towards clinical use to create new interdisciplinary domains in the field of biomaterials.”

Editor’s Choice: Nasim’s favourite recent Biomaterials Science articles

Here are three publications that Nasim has chosen as her favourite recent articles in Biomaterials Science

Nanodot-doped peptide hydrogels for antibacterial phototherapy and wound healing

Xuan Wang, Lin Qiu, Cheng Wang, Zihan Gao, Shuwen Zhou, Pengfei Cui, Pengju Jiang, Huaanzi Hu, Xinye Ni, Xuancheng Du, Jianhao Wang and Jiang Xia

Biomaterials Science, 2022, 10, 654-664

3D bio-printed biphasic scaffolds with dual modification of silk fibroin for the integrated repair of osteochondral defects

Changxu Deng, Jin Yang, Hongtao He, Zhenjiang Ma, Wenhao Wang, Yuxin Zhang, Tao Li, Chuanglong He and Jinwu Wang

Biomaterials Science, 2021, 9, 4891-4903

Rational design and latest advances of polysaccharide-based hydrogels for wound healing

Hao Hu and Fu-Jian Xu

Biomaterials Science, 2020, 8, 2084-2101

These articles are all FREE to read until 1 April 2022!

Won Jong Kim has been appointed as a new Associate Editor for Biomaterials Science. Won Jong Kim is a Mueunjae chaired professor at the Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). His research is mainly focused on synthesizing polymeric drug/gene carriers, DNA nanomedicines, developing new chemistries for the polymeric carriers and nanobiomaterials including exploring their potential towards efficient delivery. His current works also include control of gas molecules such as nitric oxide (NO) and its application for the treatment of malignant cancer, autoimmune disease, and brain disease. He has received multiple awards including the Korean Chemical Society (KCS)-Wiley Chemist Award, the Wiley-Polymer Society of Korea (PSK) Scientist Award, the KCS-Award for the Advancement of Science and the PSK-Mid-career Researcher Academy Award. Read more on his group webpage.

Won Jong has given his insight and thoughts on the future of the biomaterials field:

“Biomaterials can significantly augment cellular functionality and current imaging techniques, which would likely lead to practical and more advanced biomedical applications. To this end, future biomaterials research should be multi/interdisciplinary by playing essential roles to bridge the gap between each discipline, including nanotechnology, cell engineering, and medical imaging.”

“The journal, Biomaterials Science, will introduce innovative approaches that combine multiple disciplines, thus expanding opportunities for future biomaterials to be explored by researchers working on different fields.”

Editor’s choice: Won Jong’s favourite Biomaterials Science articles

Here are a couple of publications that Won Jong has chosen as his favourite recent articles in Biomaterials Science.

A low-intensity focused ultrasound-assisted nanocomposite for advanced triple cancer therapy: local chemotherapy, therapeutic extracellular vesicles and combined immunotherapy
Mixiao Tan, Yuli Chen, Yuan Guo, Chao Yang, Mingzhu Liu, Dan Guo, Zhigang Wang, Yang Cao and Haitao Ran
Biomaterials Science, 2020, 8, 6703-6717

Biomaterial-assisted photoimmunotherapy for cancer
Muchao Chen and Qian Chen
Biomaterials Science, 2020, 8, 5846-5858

All these articles are currently FREE to read until 5^th April 2021!

Jianjun Cheng has been appointed as the new Editor-in-Chief for Biomaterials Science, taking over from Professor Jennifer Elisseeff, after serving as an Associate Editor for Biomaterials Science for over seven. Jianjun Cheng is the Hans Thurnauer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Chemistry and Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and Fellow of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Chemistry. His research focuses on developing polymeric and nanomaterials for biomedical applications, such as functional polypeptides, nanomedicines for drug and gene delivery, cell labelling for in vivo targeting and controlled release bionanomaterials. Read more on his group webpage.

Learn more about Jianjun by reading some of his research articles below!

Cancer cell-targeted cisplatin prodrug delivery in vivo via metabolic labeling and bioorthogonal click reaction
Xun Liu, Fan Wu, Kaimin Cai, Ziyin Zhao, Zhimin Zhang, Wongbing Chen, Yong Liu, Jianjun Cheng and Lichen Yin
Biomaterials Science, 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D0BM01709D

Induction of a higher-ordered architecture in glatiramer acetate improves its biological efficiency in an animal model of multiple sclerosis
Ziyuan Song, Yee Ming Khaw, Lazaro Pacheco, Kuan-Ying Tseng, Zhengzhong Tan, Kaimin Cai, Ettigounder Ponnusamy, Jianjun Cheng and Makoto Inoue
Biomaterials Science, 2020, 8, 5271-5281

Azido-galactose outperforms azido-mannose for metabolic labeling and targeting of hepatocellular carcinomaHua Wang, Yang Liu, Ming Xu and Jianjun Cheng
Biomaterials Science, 2019, 7, 4166-4173

Recent progress in nanomaterials for nucleic acid delivery in cancer immunotherapy
Yeling Mai, Ruibo Wang, Wei Jiang, Yang Bo, Tengfei Zhang, Julin Yu, Ming Cheng, Yunzi Wu, Jianjun Cheng and Wang Ma
Biomaterials Science, 2019, 7, 2640-2651

All these articles are currently FREE to read until 15^th March 2021!

Xinyuan Zhu is a full Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Distinguished Professor of SJTU. Zhu focuses his research on the controlled preparation and biomedical applications of functional materials, including hyperbranched polymer synthesis, supramolecular polymer chemistry, drug and gene delivery, interactions between cells and polymers. He is a recipient of China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (2010), and Cheung Kong Distinguished Professor (Ministry of Education of China, 2019). A number of his scientific research achievements have been applied in industries.

Read some of Xinyuan’s research below!

Methotrexate–Mn2+ based nanoscale coordination polymers as a theranostic nanoplatform for MRI guided chemotherapy
Yan Wu, Li Xu, Jiwen Qian, Leilei Shi, Yue Su, Youfu Wang, Dawei Li and Xinyuan Zhu
Biomater. Sci., 2020, 8, 712-719

Tirapazamine-embedded polyplatinum(iv) complex: a prodrug combo for hypoxia-activated synergistic chemotherapy
Dongbo Guo, Shuting Xu, Wumaier Yasen, Chuan Zhang, Jian Shen, Yu Huang, Dong Chen and Xinyuan Zhu
Biomater. Sci., 2020, 8, 694-701

Site-dependent fluorescence enhanced polymers with a self-restricted GFP chromophore for living cell imaging
Wenbin Fan, Hongping Deng, Lijuan Zhu, Chunlai Tu, Yue Su, Leilei Shi, Jiapei Yang, Linzhu Zhou, Li Xu and Xinyuan Zhu
Biomater. Sci., 2019, 7, 2421-2429

All these articles are currently FREE to read until 29th February 2020!

We are very pleased to welcome Professor Lino Ferreira and Professor Khuloud Al-Jamal to the Biomaterials Science Editorial Board. Read more to learn all about them!

Lino Ferreira is the director of the Biomaterials and Stem Cell-Based Therapeutics research group at Center of Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC), at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and the CNC coordinator of the MIT-Portugal Program. His current interests include the development of nanomateriais to track and manipulate exogenous and endogenous stem cells, and the development of 3D biomaterials to create synthetic stem cell niches in order to study and maximize the therapeutic potential of stem cells. For his work, he has recently received an European Research Council prize.

Read some of Lino’s research below!
A photodynamic antibacterial spray-coating based on the host–guest immobilization of the photosensitizer methylene blue
Tian-tian Yao, Jing Wang, Yun-fan Xue, Wei-jiang Yu, Qiang Gao, Lino Ferreira, Ke-Feng Ren and Jian Ji
J. Mater. Chem. B, 2019,7, 5089-5095

Intracellular delivery of more than one protein with spatio-temporal control
Miguel M. Lino, Susana Simões, Sónia Pinho and Lino Ferreira
Nanoscale, 2017,9, 18668-18680

Inflammatory modulation of stem cells by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-detectable nanoparticles
Sezin Aday, Jose Paiva, Susana Sousa, Renata S. M. Gomes, Susana Pedreiro, Po-Wah So, Carolyn Ann Carr, Lowri Cochlin, Ana Catarina Gomes, Artur Paivad and Lino Ferreira
RSC Adv., 2014,4, 31706-31709

Professor Khuloud T. Al-Jamal is a Chair of Drug Delivery & Nanomedicine, King’s College London. She is also a registered pharmacist at the General Pharmaceutical Council. She started her academic career as a lecturer at King’s College London in 2011. She completed her pre-registration pharmacy training at The University College London Hospital and was awarded the Overseas Research Award Scheme (ORSA) Scholarship from The University of London (2000-2004) to complete her PhD in Drug Delivery from UCL-School of Pharmacy. She was awarded the prestigious CW Maplethorpe Research and Teaching Postdoctoral Fellowship from The University of London (2005-2007) to explore the use of cationic dendrimers as anti-angiogenic agents for growth inhibition of solid and metastatic tumours.

She has developed an extensive experience in designing and developing novel nanoscale delivery systems including dendrimers, liposomes, quantum Dots (QDs), polymers, viral vectors, chemically functionalised carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide. Her current work involves pre-clinical translation of novel nanomaterials designed specifically for drug, protein, nucleic acids and radionuclide delivery for therapeutic or diagnostic applications.

Learn more about Khuloud by reading some of her research articles below!

Design of antibody-functionalized carbon nanotubes filled with radioactivable metals towards a targeted anticancer therapy
Cinzia Spinato, Aritz Perez Ruiz de Garibay, Magdalena Kierkowicz, Elzbieta Pach, Markus Martincic, Rebecca Klippstein, Maxime Bourgognon, Julie Tzu-Wen Wang, Cécilia Ménard-Moyon, Khuloud T. Al-Jamal, Belén Ballesteros, Gerard Tobias and Alberto Bianco
Nanoscale, 2016,8, 12626-12638

Synthesis of double-clickable functionalised graphene oxide for biological applications
Kuo-Ching Mei, Noelia Rubio, Pedro M. Costa, Houmam Kafa, Vincenzo Abbate, Frederic Festy, Sukhvinder S. Bansal, Robert C. Hider and Khuloud T. Al-Jamal
Chem. Commun., 2015,51, 14981-14984

Cellular uptake mechanisms of functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes by 3D electron tomography imaging
Khuloud T. Al-Jamal, Hannah Nerl, Karin H. Müller, Hanene Ali-Boucetta, Shouping Li, Peter D. Haynes, Joerg R. Jinschek, Maurizio Prato, Alberto Bianco, Kostas Kostarelos and Alexandra E. Porter
Nanoscale, 2011,3, 2627-2635

As Biomaterials Science Associate Editors, Lino and Khuloud will be handling submissions to the journal. Why not submit your next paper to their Editorial Office?

In 2001 Jöns Hilborn was appointed to the head of the Polymer Chemistry program at the Department of Chemistry at Uppsala University in Sweden. He has extensive management experience from life science industry, start-up companies and coordination of European projects.

His research interests are in the design, synthesis and preparation of polymers and specifically materials for tissue scaffolds and as delivery vehicles. His group especially focuses on hydrogel matrices that act on endogenous cells to regenerate tissue. His laboratory combines chemistry, biology, engineering with medicine to bring their research findings from the lab bench to the clinic and commercial applications. He served as president of “Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society” (TERMIS), of which he was a founding member. 

Read some of Jöns recent research in Biomaterials Science: 

Control of growth factor binding and release in bisphosphonate functionalized hydrogels guides rapid differentiation of precursor cells in vitro
Sujit Kootala, Yu Zhang, Sara Ghalib, Vladimir Tolmachev, Jöns Hilborn and Dmitri A. Ossipov
Biomater. Sci., 2016,4, 250-254

In situ forming interpenetrating hydrogels of hyaluronic acid hybridized with iron oxide nanoparticles
Malihe Kheirabadi, Liyang Shi, Reza Bagheri, Kourosh Kabiri, Jöns Hilborn and Dmitri A. Ossipov
Biomater. Sci., 2015,3, 1466-1474

Chondroitin sulfate derived theranostic nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery
Oommen P. Varghese, Jianping Liu, Karthi Sundaram, Jöns Hilborn and Oommen P. Oommen
Biomater. Sci., 2016,4, 1310-1313

Fu-Jian Xu is a Professor and the executive director of Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. His research interests include functional materials for drug/gene delivery, natural polysaccharides for wound healing, and surface modification for biomedical applications including antibacterial, antifouling, and biocompatible surfaces.

He was the recipient of the Top Young Talents of National Special Support Program (2012), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (NSFC, 2013), Cheung Kong Distinguished Professor (Ministry of Education of China, 2014), and Distinguished Young Scientists Program of Beijing Universities (2018).

Learn more about Fujian by reading some of his research articles below:

Phthalocyanine functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate) nano-assemblies for photodynamic inactivation of bacteria
Wei Tong, Yanhua Xiong, Shun Duan, Xiaokang Ding and Fu-Jian Xu
Biomater. Sci., 2019, Advance Article

Multifunctional hybrids with versatile types of nanoparticles via self-assembly for complementary tumor therapy
Shun Duan, Jia Li, Nana Zhao and Fu-Jian Xu
Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 7649-7657

High-performance cationic polyrotaxanes terminated with polypeptides as promising nucleic acid delivery systems
Hai-Qing Song, Yu Qi, Rui-Quan Li, Gang Cheng, Nana Zhao and Fu-Jian Xu
Polym. Chem., 2018, 9, 2281-2289

PGMA-based gene carriers with lipid molecules
Chen Xu, Bingran Yu, Hao Hu, Muhammad Naeem Nizam, Wei Yuan, Jie Ma and Fu-Jian Xu
Biomater. Sci., 2016, 4, 1233-1243

Biomolecule-functionalized polymer brushes
Hui Jiang and Fu-Jian Xu
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 3394-3426

All these articles are currently FREE to read until the 31st May!