Nanomaterials for Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

The application of nanotechnology has opened a new realm of advancement in the field of regenerative medicine and has provided hope for the culmination of long-felt needs by the development of an ideal means to control the biochemical and mechanical microenvironment for successful cell delivery and tissue regeneration. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been widely used in the advancement of this field, be it by improvement in scaffolds for cell growth, development of new and efficient delivery devices, cellular modification and tracking applications or by development of nanodevices such as biosensors. The current review elaborates the various nanomaterials used in regenerative medicine with a special focus on the development of this field during the last 5 years and the recent advances in their aforementioned applications. Furthermore, the key issues and challenges in using nanotechnology-based approaches are highlighted with an outlook on the likely future of nano-assisted regenerative medicine.

Keywords::

• carbon nanotube
• dendrimer
• layer-by-layer
• nanocomposite
• nanofiber
• nanomaterials
• nanoparticle
• nanopatterning
• regenerative medicine
• self-assembling peptide

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Shalini Verma is thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for the award of Senior Research Fellowship (SRF). The authors would like to acknowledge the Department of Biotechnology, India, for their financial support (BT/PR12873/NNT/28/451/2009). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Shalini Verma is thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for the award of Senior Research Fellowship (SRF). The authors would like to acknowledge the Department of Biotechnology, India, for their financial support (BT/PR12873/NNT/28/451/2009). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.