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Theranostics 2024; 14(5):1982-2035. doi:10.7150/thno.89493 This issue Cite

Review

Highly oriented hydrogels for tissue regeneration: design strategies, cellular mechanisms, and biomedical applications

Jiuping Wu^1,2#, Zhihe Yun^3#, Wenlong Song⁴, Tao Yu³, Wu Xue³, Qinyi Liu^3✉, Xinzhi Sun^1✉

1. Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
2. Translational Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
3. Department of Orthopedics, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, China.
4. State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130023, China.
^#These authors contributed equally to this work.

✉ Corresponding authors: Qinyi Liu, Email: qinyiedu.cn; Xinzhi Sun Email: sunxinzhi2023com.

Abstract

Many human tissues exhibit a highly oriented architecture that confers them with distinct mechanical properties, enabling adaptation to diverse and challenging environments. Hydrogels, with their water-rich "soft and wet" structure, have emerged as promising biomimetic materials in tissue engineering for repairing and replacing damaged tissues and organs. Highly oriented hydrogels can especially emulate the structural orientation found in human tissue, exhibiting unique physiological functions and properties absent in traditional homogeneous isotropic hydrogels. The design and preparation of highly oriented hydrogels involve strategies like including hydrogels with highly oriented nanofillers, polymer-chain networks, void channels, and microfabricated structures. Understanding the specific mechanism of action of how these highly oriented hydrogels affect cell behavior and their biological applications for repairing highly oriented tissues such as the cornea, skin, skeletal muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, bone, blood vessels, heart, etc., requires further exploration and generalization. Therefore, this review aims to fill that gap by focusing on the design strategy of highly oriented hydrogels and their application in the field of tissue engineering. Furthermore, we provide a detailed discussion on the application of highly oriented hydrogels in various tissues and organs and the mechanisms through which highly oriented structures influence cell behavior.

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