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Current progress of self-healing polymers for medical applications in tissue engineering

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Abstract

The research of self-healable polymers intended for medical use has increased in the last 20 years. These materials can self-repair and recover their functionality after damage; thus, they are of significant interest in diverse academic areas, including the biomedical field. In this regard, numerous synthetic and natural polymers are being used to develop self-healing hydrogels for tissue engineering applications, particularly for the restoration of bones, cartilage, skin, and even the central nervous system. These materials possess distinct advantages; for example, natural polymers are usually biocompatible and biodegradable, whereas synthetic polymers could be more suitable when rigid hydrogels with fast kinetics are required. Moreover, the intrinsic reticular matrix of these self-healing systems allows the load of diverse drugs and their controlled release. Remarkably, polymers may be mixed to obtain hydrogels with enhanced mechanical and biological properties. The elaboration of self-healable hydrogels is carried out through either covalent crosslinking or non-covalent crosslinking; the selection of the method depends on many factors, including the required mechanical properties and desired use. Although some articles have reviewed self-healing hydrogels, papers focused on utilizing these systems in tissue engineering are scarce. In this article, we perform a concise description of fabrication methods of self-healing hydrogels and the employed polymers. Furthermore, we provide numerous examples of hydrogels intended for biomedical purposes and discuss their key functional properties. Our main objective was to point out the most recent progress in utilizing self-healing polymers in tissue engineering.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by CONACYT A1-S-15759 to Gerardo Leyva-Gómez. This research received financial support provided by Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (DGAPA-UNAM) through the Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica (PAPIIT); Project Grant: PAPIIT-TA200520. Figures 1, 4 and 8 were created with BioRender.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    María Luisa Del Prado-Audelo, Isaac H. Caballero-Florán & Gerardo Leyva-Gómez

  2. Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Departamento de Bioingeniería, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de México, 14380, Mexico City, Mexico

    María Luisa Del Prado-Audelo

  3. Departamento de Fisiología, Biofísica and Neurociencias, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 07360, Mexico City, Mexico

    Isaac H. Caballero-Florán & Benjamín Florán

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad de Colima, C.P. 28400, Colima, Mexico

    Néstor Mendoza-Muñoz

  5. Departamento de Biología Celular y Tisular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Edificio “A” 3er piso, Circuito Interior, Avenida Universidad 3000, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    David Giraldo-Gomez

  6. Unidad de Microscopía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Edificio “A” planta baja, Circuito Interior, Avenida Universidad 3000, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    David Giraldo-Gomez

  7. Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 1991953381, Tehran, Iran

    Javad Sharifi-Rad

  8. Research Institute of Biotechnology and Medical Converged Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

    Jayanta Kumar Patra

  9. CONACyT-Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, 14389, Mexico City, Mexico

    Maykel González-Torres

  10. Laboratorio de Medicina Genómica, Departamento de Genética, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra, 14389, Mexico City, Mexico

    Hernán Cortes

  11. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador

    Javad Sharifi-Rad

Authors
  1. María Luisa Del Prado-Audelo
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  2. Isaac H. Caballero-Florán
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  3. Néstor Mendoza-Muñoz
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  8. Benjamín Florán
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  10. Gerardo Leyva-Gómez
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Correspondence to Gerardo Leyva-Gómez.

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Del Prado-Audelo, M.L., Caballero-Florán, I.H., Mendoza-Muñoz, N. et al. Current progress of self-healing polymers for medical applications in tissue engineering. Iran Polym J 31, 7–29 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-021-00943-8

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