Owing to good biocompatibility and easy modification, natural polymers are obtaining a great interest in biomedical applications. The main fields of biomedicine where natural polymers find applicability include regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and targeted therapy. Natural polymers are selected for biomedical applications as they possess some preferred criteria including biocompatibility, porosity, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, surface energy, degradation rate, etc. Meanwhile, they can undergo a diverse range of chemical or physical modifications to fulfill the requirements of specific biomedical applications.
Generally, natural polymers have been widely used in tissue culture, wound treatment, implantation, controlled drug delivery, targeted therapy of diseases, etc. However, two main challenges have been faced in further broadening biomedical applications: 1) the limited strategies for functional modifications of natural polymers; and 2) the limited new fields of applications.
Both the translational and basic studies are included in this topic. This Research Topic aims to collect recent novel findings:
1) Novel natural polymers for regenerative medicine.
2) The peptide/protein modulators of protein-protein interactions.
3) Natural polymer-based biosensors in biomedical applications.
4) Novel natural polymers for drug delivery.
5) Computer aid design for novel natural polymers.
6) Design and preparation of antibiosis natural polymers.
7) Functionalization of Virus-Like Particles.
8) Biopolymer based bioreactor for biosynthesis
Dr. Wei KANG stands as the Co-ordinator for this Research Topic. We would like to acknowledge his contribution to the preparation of this Topic and his involvement in the collection.