Main description:

The generation of tridimensional tissues, assembled from scaffolding materials populated with biologically functional cells, is the great challenge and hope of tissue bioengineering and regenerative medicine. The generation of biomaterials capable of harnessing the immune system has been particularly successful. This book provides a comprehensive view of how immune cells can be manipulated to suppresses inflammation, deliver vaccines, fight cancer cells, promote tissue regeneration or inhibit blood clotting and bacterial infections by functionally engineered biomaterials. However, long-lived polymers, such as those employed in orthopedic surgery or vascular stents, can often induce an immune reaction to their basic components. As a result, this book is also an important step towards coming to understand how to manipulate biomaterials to optimize their beneficial effects and downplay detrimental immune responses.

Contents:

Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cell, Macrophages, and Biomaterials during Myocardial Repair.- The Role of Macrophages in the Foreign Body Response to Implanted Biomaterials.- Integrating tissue microenvironment with scaffold design to promote immune-mediated regeneration.- Advances in Molecular design of polymer surfaces with antimicrobial, anticoagulant and antifouling properties.- Layer-by-Layer Coatings as Infection-Resistant Biomaterials.- Nature-inspired multifunctional host defense peptides with dual antimicrobial-immunomodulatory activities.- Biomaterials-based Strategies in Blood Substitutes.- Biomaterials-based Immunomodulation of Dendritic Cells.- Nanosystems for Immunotherapeutic Drug Delivery.- Biomaterial-based modulation of cancer.- Liposome-mediated delivery to immune cells.- Integrated Biomaterial Composites for Accelerated Wound Healing.- Adverse Effects of Byproducts from Polymers used for Joint Replacement.- Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells: Biomimetic Strategies for Directing the Immune Response.