Editorial Cite This: Bioconjugate Chem. 2018, 29, 825−825
pubs.acs.org/bc
Biomimetic Materials
T
he articles in this issue represent some of the most exciting, cutting edge materials in the field. No longer are materials a support system or a delivery vehicle on their own. Thanks to the great insights and perseverance of these investigators in the field, materials are playing an active role in defining and shaping biological responses. Not surprisingly, many of the features being incorporated into materials to direct responses are inspired by biology whether they be immune signaling components or light responsive molecules. The ability to design materials to probe, understand, and affect the biological environment opens new possibilities for developing models to understand biology and disease. There are new in vitro models that are being developed that are far beyond the 2D cultures that have been the mainstays of in vitro systems and now include multiple cell types that organize in organoid-like structures. The ability to develop materials that are biologically specific, temporally dynamic, and patternable greatly augments the development of these models. These same systems also are capable of helping to address some of the challenges associated with cellular therapies and may provide new routes for increasing the duration and efficacy of these therapies. For all the potential of these biomimetic materials, it is worth remembering how difficult it can be to make reproducible biomimetic materials at scale. One of the impressive components of a number of the papers in this section is that the authors have balanced the need to make volumes of these materials with elegant molecular control that makes the application of these intelligent materials, both in function and in design, possible.
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Erin B. Lavik* Gang Zheng
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Special Issue: Biomimetic Materials Published: April 18, 2018 © 2018 American Chemical Society
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.8b00215 Bioconjugate Chem. 2018, 29, 825−825
