[citation needed] Biomimetic materials in tissue engineering are materials that have been designed such that they elicit specified cellular responses mediated by interactions with scaffold-tethered peptides from extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins; essentially, the incorporation of cell-binding peptides into biomaterials via chemical or physical modification.
Thus, these peptides act as building blocks capable of conducting multiple biochemical activities, including tissue engineering.
[3] In the beginning, long chains of ECM proteins including fibronectin (FN), vitronectin (VN), and laminin (LN) were used, but more recently the advantages of using short peptides have been discovered.
[8] In a biomimetic mineralization strategy based on normal enamel histogenesis, a three-dimensional scaffold is formed to attract and arrange calcium and/or phosphate ions to induce de novo precipitation of hydroxylapatite.
[11] In dental orthopedics and implants, a more traditional strategy to improve the density of the underlying jaw bone is via the in situ application of calcium phosphate materials.
[12] Newer bioactive glasses follow this line of strategy, where the added silicone provides an important bonus to the local absorption of calcium.
Laminin is a component of the extracellular matrix that is able to promote neuron attachment and differentiation, in addition to axon growth guidance.
Its primary functional site for bioactivity is its core protein domain isoleucine-lysine-valine-alanine-valine (IKVAV), which is located in the α-1 chain of laminin.
[14] A recent study by Wu, Zheng et al., synthesized a self-assembled IKVAV peptide nanofiber and tested its effect on the adhesion of neuron-like pc12 cells.
[14] The IKVAV peptide domain is on the surface of the nanofibers so that it is exposed and accessible for promoting cell contact interactions.
From bacteria (Flavobacterium strain IR1)[17] to multicellular organisms, (Hibiscus trionum,[18] Doryteuthis pealeii (squid),[19] or Chrysochroa fulgidissima (beetle)[20]), manipulation of light is not limited to rare and exotic life forms.
Directly inspired from the fire fly Reflector layer, an artificial granulate film composed of hollow silica beads of about 1.05 μm was correlated with a high reflection index and could be used to improve light emission in chemiluminescent systems.
Nanozymes as well as other artificial enzymes have found wide applications, from biosensing and immunoassays, to stem cell growth and pollutant removal.