Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials (NFB), NUI Galway, Galway (Ireland).
Small. 2010 Feb 22;6(4):488-98. doi: 10.1002/smll.200901253.
Architectural design of biomaterial structures is essential to reach the full potential of the materials' chemical and biological properties. Clinically, these properties depend on the targeted applications of delivery, such as tissue regeneration, imaging, or cancer. To get an efficient material for biological applications, key properties are needed, such as degradability, low toxicity, cell specificity, relative efficiency, and capability of delivering multiple molecules. In recent years, significant progress has been made through either the design of the material itself (synthetic or natural polymers, dendrimers, crosslinking) or the fabrication technique (nozzle reactor, emulsion, and template). The combination of these materials and techniques results in a large variety of biomaterials that have varied shape and physico-chemical and biological properties. Nevertheless, these inherent properties are not sufficient and interest in discovering and developing new techniques that present these biomaterials in different light is now under focus. A useful strategy to prepare biomaterials with unique and novel architectures is through the use of templates that have defined geometrical features. This holds great promise, especially for the development of hollow structures, such as spheres. The nanoscale structural design of biomaterials via the use of templates and their potential clinical applications are discussed. In addition, the conceptual hurdles that must be overcome to produce applications that are clinically relevant are examined.
生物材料结构的建筑设计对于充分发挥材料的化学和生物学特性至关重要。从临床角度来看，这些特性取决于输送的靶向应用，如组织再生、成像或癌症治疗。为了获得用于生物应用的有效材料，需要关键特性，如可降解性、低毒性、细胞特异性、相对效率和输送多种分子的能力。近年来，通过材料本身的设计（合成或天然聚合物、树枝状聚合物、交联）或制造技术（喷嘴反应器、乳液和模板）取得了重大进展。这些材料和技术的结合产生了具有各种形状和物理化学及生物学特性的多种生物材料。然而，这些固有特性还不够，现在人们对发现和开发新技术以不同的方式呈现这些生物材料产生了兴趣。通过使用具有特定几何形状的模板来制备具有独特新颖结构的生物材料是一种很有前途的策略。这具有很大的潜力，特别是对于空心结构的开发，如球体。本文讨论了通过模板对生物材料进行纳米级结构设计及其潜在的临床应用，并探讨了为产生具有临床相关性的应用而必须克服的概念性障碍。
