Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The Nanos, Singapore.
Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2010 Jun 15;62(7-8):731-40. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2010.02.002. Epub 2010 Feb 13.
Nanomaterials can be defined as materials that possess clearly defined features of less than 100nm, and whose nanostructured features confer characteristics crucial to the material's bulk property. The nanostructured features can be an intermediate or final state of the material in its synthesis process. The field of nanomaterials as applied to in situ cell delivery and tissue engineering is rapidly expanding. Nanomaterials that include peptide amphiphiles, self-assembling peptides, electrospun scaffolds, layer-by-layer complexes, nanotubes and nanocomposites have been applied to cell culture, encapsulation and delivery with promising results. As compared to scaffold-free cell delivery, nanomaterials are advantageous in terms of providing a means to control the biochemical and mechanical microenvironment of the cells. Nanomaterials are amenable to a bottom-up approach in functionalization and mechanical tuning, as illustrated in the examples presented in this review. Furthermore, nanomaterials such as DNA polyplexes and carbon nanotubes can also be incorporated into the cell delivery vehicle to improve the regenerative outcome. Lastly, while nanomaterials harbor much potential for cell delivery and tissue regeneration, further characterization is required in terms of clinical safety before these materials can be employed towards therapeutic applications.
纳米材料可定义为具有小于 100nm 的明确特征的材料，其纳米结构特征赋予了对材料整体性质至关重要的特性。纳米结构特征可以是材料在合成过程中的中间或最终状态。纳米材料在原位细胞输送和组织工程中的应用领域正在迅速扩大。包括肽两亲物、自组装肽、电纺支架、层层复合物、纳米管和纳米复合材料在内的纳米材料已应用于细胞培养、封装和输送，取得了有希望的结果。与无支架细胞输送相比，纳米材料在控制细胞的生化和机械微环境方面具有优势。纳米材料适合于功能化和机械调整的自下而上的方法，如本综述中呈现的示例所示。此外，纳米材料如 DNA 多聚物和碳纳米管也可以被纳入细胞输送载体中，以改善再生效果。最后，虽然纳米材料在细胞输送和组织再生方面具有很大的潜力，但在这些材料可用于治疗应用之前，还需要进一步进行临床安全性方面的特征描述。
