Functional Biomaterials Research Articles

Sol-Gel Transition of a Thermo-Responsive Polymer at the Closest Solid Interface.

Thermo-responsive polymers are applied as surface modifications for the temperature switching of hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties through adsorption and grafting on solid substrates. The current understanding of the influence of polymer chains bound to the solid surface on the transition behavior of thermo-responsive polymers is rather restricted. In this study, we aim to elucidate the effect of the bound polymer chains at the interface on the thermo-responsive sol-gel transition behavior of aqueous methylcellulose (MC) solutions by employing a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to evaluate the shear modulus near the solid interface. When the sample thickness was thinner on the order of the millimeter scale, the sol-gel transition temperature evaluated by the cloud point decreased because the condensation of MC near the solid interface promoted the sol-gel transition. On the other hand, focusing on the closest solid interface on the nanometer scale by QCM, the sol-gel transition temperature increased when approaching the solid interface. Adsorption and interfacial interactions reduced the chain mobility and restrained the sol-gel transition by preventing MC chain aggregation. We demonstrated the physical properties evaluation at the closest interface between the thermo-responsive polymer and solid substrate by combining a simple analytical model of QCM and controlling the analytical depth of the QCM sensors. In conclusion, the mobility change of the bound polymer chains at the solid interface caused by adsorption and interfacial interactions must be considered when a thermo-responsive polymer is applied as in adsorbed or thin films on solid substrates for the functionalization of biomaterials.

Post-printing surface modification and functionalization of 3D-printed biomedical device.

3D printing is a technology well-suited for biomedical applications due to its ability to create highly complex and arbitrary structures from personalized designs with a fast turnaround. However, due to a limited selection of 3D-printable materials, the biofunctionality of many 3D-printed components has not been paid enough attention. In this perspective, we point out that post-3D printing modification is the solution that could close the gap between 3D printing technology and desired biomedical functions. We identify architectural reconfiguration and surface functionalization as the two main post-3D printing modification processes and discuss potential techniques for post-3D printing modification to achieve desired biofunctionality.

Preparation and Study of the Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Nano/Micromicellar Structures Containing Chokeberry Fruit Pomace Extracts Using Egg White and Egg Yolk.

There is currently a growing interest in health-promoting foods. The beneficial effects of food on human health are actively promoted by health professionals and nutritionists. This growing awareness is influencing the increasing range of functional foods and the pursuit of more innovative solutions. Recent research indicates that spherical nanoparticles have the potential to be used as functional biomaterials in the food industry, particularly for encapsulating hydrophobic natural phytochemicals. Techniques and systems based on micro- and nano-encapsulation are of great importance in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It is of paramount importance that encapsulation materials are safe for use in food. The aim of this study was to obtain micelles containing extracts from chokeberry fruit pomace using egg yolk powder (EYP) for emulsification (as a source of lecithin) and egg white powder (EWP) for stabilisation. The structural properties of the micelles in the resulting powders were characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis confirmed the presence of spherical micellar structures between 500 and 1000 nm in size. The water activity and water content of the obtained powders were determined, and the thermal (DSC) and antioxidant properties were investigated. The results indicated that the powder with the micellar structures had a higher stability compared to the powder obtained by simple mixing without the use of encapsulation techniques.

Advances in Nanomedicine and Biomaterials for Endometrial Regeneration: A Comprehensive Review.

The endometrium is an extremely important component of the uterus and is crucial for individual health and human reproduction. However, traditional methods still struggle to ideally repair the structure and function of damaged endometrium and restore fertility. Therefore, seeking and developing innovative technologies and materials has the potential to repair and regenerate damaged or diseased endometrium. The emergence and functionalization of various nanomedicine and biomaterials, as well as the proposal and development of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering techniques, have brought great hope for solving these problems. In this review, we will summarize various nanomedicine, biomaterials, and innovative technologies that contribute to endometrial regeneration, including nanoscale exosomes, nanomaterials, stem cell-based materials, naturally sourced biomaterials, chemically synthesized biomaterials, approaches and methods for functionalizing biomaterials, as well as the application of revolutionary new technologies such as organoids, organ-on-chips, artificial intelligence, etc. The diverse design and modification of new biomaterials endow them with new functionalities, such as microstructure or nanostructure, mechanical properties, biological functions, and cellular microenvironment regulation. It will provide new options for the regeneration of endometrium, bring new hope for the reconstruction and recovery of patients' reproductive abilities.

Dynamic three-dimensional coculture model: The future of tissue engineering applied to the peripheral nervous system

Traumatic injuries to the peripheral nervous system (PNI) can lead to severe consequences such as paralysis. Unfortunately, current treatments rarely allow for satisfactory functional recovery. The high healthcare costs associated with PNS injuries, worker disability, and low patient satisfaction press for alternative solutions that surpass current standards. For the treatment of injuries with a deficit of less than 30 mm to bridge, the use of synthetic nerve conduits (NGC) is favored. However, to develop such promising therapeutic strategies, in vitro models that more faithfully mimic nerve physiology are needed. The absence of a clinically scaled model with essential elements such as a three-dimension environment and dynamic coculture has hindered progress in this field. The presented research focuses on the development of an in vitro coculture model of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) involving the use of functional biomaterial which microstructure replicates nerve topography. Initially, the behavior of neuron-derived cell lines (N) and Schwann cells (SC) in contact with a short section of biomaterial (5 mm) was studied. Subsequent investigations, using fluorescent markers and survival assays, demonstrated the synergistic effects of coculture. These optimized parameters were then applied to longer biomaterials (30 mm), equivalent to clinically used NGC. The results obtained demonstrated the possibility of maintaining an extended coculture of SC and N over a 7-day period on a clinically scaled biomaterial, observing some functionality. In the long term, the knowledge gained from this work will contribute to a better understanding of the PNS regeneration process and promote the development of future therapeutic approaches while reducing reliance on animal experimentation. This model can be used for drug screening and adapted for personalized medicine trials. Ultimately, this work fills a critical gap in current research, providing a transformative approach to study and advance treatments for PNS injuries.

Biohacking Nerve Repair: Novel Biomaterials, Local Drug Delivery, Electrical Stimulation, and Allografts to Aid Surgical Repair.

The regenerative capacity of the peripheral nervous system is limited, and peripheral nerve injuries often result in incomplete healing and poor outcomes even after repair. Transection injuries that induce a nerve gap necessitate microsurgical intervention; however, even the current gold standard of repair, autologous nerve graft, frequently results in poor functional recovery. Several interventions have been developed to augment the surgical repair of peripheral nerves, and the application of functional biomaterials, local delivery of bioactive substances, electrical stimulation, and allografts are among the most promising approaches to enhance innate healing across a nerve gap. Biocompatible polymers with optimized degradation rates, topographic features, and other functions provided by their composition have been incorporated into novel nerve conduits (NCs). Many of these allow for the delivery of drugs, neurotrophic factors, and whole cells locally to nerve repair sites, mitigating adverse effects that limit their systemic use. The electrical stimulation of repaired nerves in the perioperative period has shown benefits to healing and recovery in human trials, and novel biomaterials to enhance these effects show promise in preclinical models. The use of acellular nerve allografts (ANAs) circumvents the morbidity of donor nerve harvest necessitated by the use of autografts, and improvements in tissue-processing techniques may allow for more readily available and cost-effective options. Each of these interventions aid in neural regeneration after repair when applied independently, and their differing forms, benefits, and methods of application present ample opportunity for synergistic effects when applied in combination.

Genetic Functionalization of Protein-Based Biomaterials via Protein Fusions.

Proteins implement many useful functions, including binding ligands with unparalleled affinity and specificity, catalyzing stereospecific chemical reactions, and directing cell behavior. Incorporating proteins into materials has the potential to imbue devices with these desirable traits. This review highlights recent advances in creating active materials by genetically fusing a self-assembling protein to a functional protein. These fusion proteins form materials while retaining the function of interest. Key advantages of this approach include elimination of a separate functionalization step during materials synthesis, uniform and dense coverage of the material by the functional protein, and stabilization of the functional protein. This review focuses on macroscale materials and discusses (i) multiple strategies for successful protein fusion design, (ii) successes and limitations of the protein fusion approach, (iii) engineering solutions to bypass any limitations, (iv) applications of protein fusion materials, including tissue engineering, drug delivery, enzyme immobilization, electronics, and biosensing, and (v) opportunities to further develop this useful technique.

Self-assembly variation of glycyrrhetinic acid epimers: Assembly mechanism and antibacterial efficacy between 18 α-GA and 18 β-GA

Studies have confirmed that the spatial arrangement of chiral molecules has a decisive influence on supramolecular assembly. However, the effect of epimerization caused by the change of a single chiral center on the self-assembly of chiral molecules has not been reported. Herein, we explored a pair of epimers 18 α-glycyrrhetinic acid and 18 β-glycyrrhetinic acid from Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, which had completely different medicinal activities. In this study, we found that these epimers of glycyrrhetinic acid showed distinct self-assembly properties under the condition of the deionized water and a small amount of DMSO solution. Interestingly, the cis-configured 18 β-GA could form a 'head-to-tail' interlaced structure and further self-assembled to form nanoparticles, while trans-configured 18 α-GA was connected in a “head-to-head” manner, and due to the excessive steric hindrance that made it difficult to assemble. This work not only clearly demonstrates the impact of epimerization due to changes in a single chiral center on the self-assembly of chiral molecules as well as biological activity, but also provides new insights into the self-assembly of natural organic molecules in the development of nanomedicines and biofunctional materials.

Preparation, properties, and antibacterial application of dialdehyde carboxymethyl cross‐linked sesbania gum

AbstractSuitably modified sesbania gum as a biodegradable functional biomaterials was very attractive in many applications. Therefore, a combination of cross‐linking, carboxymethylation, and oxidation was chosen to modify sesbania gum (SG) to expand its use. The experimental results indicated that cross‐linking could be completed not only on SG particles, but also between different SG particles. The cross‐linking decreased the number of surface hydroxyl groups on SG. The sedimentation volume decreased with the increase of phosphorus content of cross‐linked sesbania gum (CLSG). The structure of SG particles was severely disrupted by carboxymethylation and oxidation, while the structure was less affected by cross‐linking. The viscosities of SG and modified SG paste in acidic medium were less than those in neutral medium, while their viscosities in alkaline medium were more than those in neutral medium. Cross‐linking, carboxymethylation, and oxidation could ameliorate the retrogradation of SG, but decrease its swelling power, freeze–thaw stability, acid, and alkaline resistance. The aldehyde groups had good antibacterial activity against Trichoderma harzianum, whereas the carboxymethyl groups and phosphate ester groups showed poor antimicrobial activity against T. harzianum.

Large Language Model-Based Natural Language Encoding Could Be All You Need for Drug Biomedical Association Prediction.

Analyzing drug-related interactions in the field of biomedicine has been a critical aspect of drug discovery and development. While various artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools have been proposed to analyze drug biomedical associations (DBAs), their feature encoding did not adequately account for crucial biomedical functions and semantic concepts, thereby still hindering their progress. Since the advent of ChatGPT by OpenAI in 2022, large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated rapid growth and significant success across various applications. Herein, LEDAP was introduced, which uniquely leveraged LLM-based biotext feature encoding for predicting drug-disease associations, drug-drug interactions, and drug-side effect associations. Benefiting from the large-scale knowledgebase pre-training, LLMs had great potential in drug development analysis owing to their holistic understanding of natural language and human topics. LEDAP illustrated its notable competitiveness in comparison with other popular DBA analysis tools. Specifically, even in simple conjunction with classical machine learning methods, LLM-based feature representations consistently enabled satisfactory performance across diverse DBA tasks like binary classification, multiclass classification, and regression. Our findings underpinned the considerable potential of LLMs in drug development research, indicating a catalyst for further progress in related fields.

Antibacterial compounds-incorporated functional biomaterials for chronic wound healing application via 3D bioprinting: The mechanism of action

Wounds represent a critical issue in the healthcare industry since they are highly susceptible to infections that in turn lead to more serious complications. With bacterial infections gradually growing to be a challenge to wound healing, fighting bacterial resistance has become one of the important pillars of addressing issues faced by healthcare personnel. Thus, gaining an understanding of the distinct stages of wound healing is vital to further improve relevant therapies incorporating the application of antibacterial compounds. Recently, three-dimensional (3D)-printed functional biomaterials have emerged as an alternative treatment or potential carriers incorporating relevant antibacterial agents, offering a new approach to skin tissue engineering. Novel strategies for skin tissue engineering are grounded in the integration of bioactive ingredients and antibacterial agents into biomaterials with different morphologies to improve cell behaviors and promote wound healing by preventing bacterial colonization. This paper reviews the function of natural and synthetic polymers, effects of antibacterial properties, and cell interactions in terms of the wound healing process. Extensive research has demonstrated that 3D functional biomaterials exert their therapeutic effects through multifaceted pathways, including but not limited to, modulating inflammation, facilitating tissue regeneration, promoting cell proliferation, enhancing angiogenesis, and controlling infection. This review also provides general insights into the elegant design for 3D scaffold and further refinement of wound dressing.

Biopolymers and their Nanocomposites: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract: For many years, petroleum-based polymers have been successfully enhanced by the addition of nanoparticles as additives. Carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanoclays, 2-D layered materials, and cellulose nano whiskers are a few of the several nanoreinforcements that are currently being researched. In comparison to unmodified polymer resin, the use of these nanofillers with bio-based polymers could improve a wide range of physical properties, including barrier, flame resistance, thermal stability, solvent uptake, and rate of biodegradability. This nano-reinforcement is a very appealing method to create new functional biomaterials for a variety of applications because these enhancements are typically achieved at minimal filler content.

Gold-Hydrogel Nanocomposites for High-Resolution Laser-Based 3D Printing of Scaffolds with SERS-Sensing Properties.

Although visible light-based stereolithography (SLA) represents an affordable technology for the rapid prototyping of 3D scaffolds for in vitro support of cells, its potential could be limited by the lack of functional photocurable biomaterials that can be SLA-structured at micrometric resolution. Even if innovative photocomposites showing biomimetic, bioactive, or biosensing properties have been engineered by loading inorganic particles into photopolymer matrices, main examples rely on UV-assisted extrusion-based low-resolution processes. Here, SLA-printable composites were obtained by mixing a polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel with multibranched gold nanoparticles (NPs). NPs were engineered to copolymerize with the PEGDA matrix by implementing a functionalization protocol involving covalent grafting of allylamine molecules that have C═C pendant moieties. The formulations of gold nanocomposites were tailored to achieve high-resolution fast prototyping of composite scaffolds via visible light-based SLA. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that, after mixing with a polymer and after laser structuring, gold NPs still retained their unique plasmonic properties and could be exploited for optical detection of analytes through surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). As a proof of concept, SERS-sensing performances of 3D printed plasmonic scaffolds were successfully demonstrated with a Raman probe molecule (e.g., 4-mercaptobenzoic acid) from the perspective of future extensions to real-time sensing of cell-specific markers released within cultures. Finally, biocompatibility tests preliminarily demonstrated that embedded NPs also played a key role by inducing physiological cell-cytoskeleton rearrangements, further confirming the potentialities of such hybrid nanocomposites as groundbreaking materials in laser-based bioprinting.

Advances in Extraction, Structure, and Physiochemical Properties of Sorghum Kafirin for Biomaterial Applications: A Review.

Kafirin is an endosperm-specific hydrophobic protein found in sorghum grain and the waste by-product from sorghum biorefineries known as sorghum dried distillers' grain with solubles (DDGS). Because of kafirin's poor nutritional profile (negative nitrogen balance, slow digestibility, and lack of some essential amino acids), its direct human use as a food is restricted. Nevertheless, increased focus on biofuel production from sorghum grain has triggered a new wave of research to use sorghum DDGS kafirin as a food-grade protein for biomaterials with diverse applications. These applications result from kafirin's unique chemical nature: high hydrophobicity, evaporation-induced self-assembling capacity, elongated conformation, water insolubility, and low digestibility. Aqueous alcohol mixtures have been widely used for the extraction of kafirin. The composition, structure, extraction methodologies, and physiochemical properties of kafirin, emphasising its biomaterial functionality, are discussed in detail in this review. The literature survey reveals an in-depth understanding of extraction methodologies and their impact on structure functionality, which could assist in formulating materials of kafirin at a commercial scale. Ongoing research continues to explore the potential of kafirin and optimise its utilisation as a functional biomaterial, highlighting its valuable structural and physicochemical properties. Further studies should focus on covering gaps in the research as some of the current structural understanding comes from data on zein protein from maize.

Plasma-Sprayed Osseoconductive Hydroxylapatite Coatings for Endoprosthetic Hip Implants: Phase Composition, Microstructure, Properties, and Biomedical Functions

This contribution attempts to provide a state-of-the-art account of the physicochemical and biomedical properties of the plasma-sprayed hydroxylapatite (HAp) coatings that are routinely applied to the surfaces of metallic endoprosthetic and dental root implants designed to replace or restore the lost functions of diseased or damaged tissues of the human body. Even though the residence time of powder particles of HAp in the plasma jet is extremely short, the high temperature applied induces compositional and structural changes in the precursor HAp that severely affect its chemical and physical properties and in turn its biomedical performance. These changes are based on the incongruent melting behavior of HAp and can be traced, among many other analytical techniques, by high resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction, vibrational (Raman) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In vivo reactions of the plasma-sprayed coatings to extracellular fluid (ECF) can be assessed and predicted by in vitro testing using simulated body fluids (SBFs) as proxy agents. Ways to safeguard the appropriate biological performance of HAp coatings in long-term service by controlling their phase content, porosity, surface roughness, residual stress distribution, and adhesion to the implant surface are being discussed.

The vast majority of nucleic acid-loaded lipid nanoparticles contain cargo

Nucleic acid-based therapies are transforming medicine, but rely on an efficient delivery vehicle such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Concerns exists in the nanomedicine field, that a large fraction of the LNPs in the ensemble does not contain any nucleic acid cargo and thus exert no functional effect. Nevertheless, how LNP lipid formulation, the LNP preparation method employed and nucleic acid cargo size correlates with the proportion of empty LNPs remains largely unexplored. Here we employ a well-established single particle based method to study nucleic acid loading heterogeneity in LNPs. We find that only a minor fraction of LNPs are “empty”, both for LNPs loaded with siRNA, mRNA and plasmids. For clinically relevant LNPs for mRNA delivery, we never detected more than 16% empty nanoparticles in the ensemble. Thus employing standard LNP lipid-cargo combinations and preparation schemes results in LNPs with the potential to serve their biomedical function.

Citric Acid: A Nexus Between Cellular Mechanisms and Biomaterial Innovations.

Citrate-based biodegradable polymers have emerged as a distinctive biomaterial platform with tremendous potential for diverse medical applications. By harnessing their versatile chemistry, these polymers exhibit a wide range of material and bioactive properties, enabling them to regulate cell metabolism and stem cell differentiation through energy metabolism, metabonegenesis, angiogenesis, and immunomodulation. Moreover, the recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of the biodegradable poly(octamethylene citrate) (POC)/hydroxyapatite-based orthopedic fixation devices represents a translational research milestone for biomaterial science. POC joins a short list of biodegradable synthetic polymers that have ever been authorized by the FDA for use in humans. The clinical success of POC has sparked enthusiasm and accelerated the development of next-generation citrate-based biomaterials. This review presents a comprehensive, forward-thinking discussion on the pivotal role of citrate chemistry and metabolism in various tissue regeneration and on the development of functional citrate-based metabotissugenic biomaterials for regenerative engineering applications.

Effects of Functional Biomaterials on the Attributes of Orally Disintegrating Tablets Loaded with Furosemide Nanoparticles: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluations.

Furosemide (FUR) is a diuretic used to relieve edema, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, end-stage renal disease, and hypertension. FUR is a class IV according to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System. It is practically insoluble in water. This study aimed to optimize and formulate porous orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) prepared by sublimation and loaded with FUR nanoparticles prepared by using a planetary ball mill. Different functional biomaterials called stabilizers were used to stabilize the nanoparticle formula. Pluronic F-127 was the optimum stabilizer in terms of particle size (354.07 ± 6.44), zeta potential (-25.3 ± 5.65), and dissolution efficiency (56.34%). The impact of the stabilizer concentration was studied as well, and a concentration of 3% showed the smallest particle size (354.07 ± 6.44), best zeta potential value (-25.3 ± 5.65), and percentage of dissolution rate (56.34%). A FUR-loaded nanoparticle formula was successfully prepared. The nanoparticle formula was stabilized by using 3% pluronic F-127, and 3% was chosen for further study of the incorporation into oral disintegration tablets prepared by the sublimation technique. The impact of the matrix sublimating agent and superdisintegrant on the ODTs' attributes (in vitro disintegration, wetting time, and in vitro dissolution efficiency) was studied using 32 full factorial designs. In vivo, the diuretic activity was tested for the optimized FUR ODTs by calculating the Lipschitz value using rats as an animal model. The stability of the ODTs loaded with FUR nanoparticles was assessed under accelerated conditions for 6 months. Finally, the ODT formula loaded with FUR NPs showed a rapid onset of action that was significantly faster than untreated drugs. Nanonization and ODT formulation enhances the dissolution rate and bioavailability of FUR. Many factors can be controlled to achieve optimization results, including the formulation and process parameters.

Implantable Patch of Oxidized Nanofibrillated Cellulose and Lysozyme Amyloid Nanofibrils for the Regeneration of Infarcted Myocardium Tissue and Local Delivery of RNA-Loaded Nanoparticles.

Biopolymeric implantable patches are popular scaffolds for myocardial regeneration applications. Besides being biocompatible, they can be tailored to have required properties and functionalities for this application. Recently, fibrillar biobased nanostructures prove to be valuable in the development of functional biomaterials for tissue regeneration applications. Here, periodate-oxidized nanofibrillated cellulose (OxNFC) is blended with lysozyme amyloid nanofibrils (LNFs) to prepare a self-crosslinkable patch for myocardial implantation. The OxNFC:LNFs patch shows superior wet mechanical properties (60MPa for Young's modulus and 1.5MPa for tensile stress at tensile strength), antioxidant activity (70% scavenging activity under 24h), and bioresorbability ratio (80% under 91 days), when compared to the patches composed solely of NFC or OxNFC. These improvements are achieved while preserving the morphology, required thermal stability for sterilization, and biocompatibility toward rat cardiomyoblast cells. Additionally, both OxNFC and OxNFC:LNFs patches reveal the ability to act as efficient vehicles to deliver spermine modified acetalated dextran nanoparticles, loaded with small interfering RNA, with 80% of delivery after 5 days. This study highlights the value of simply blending OxNFC and LNFs, synergistically combining their key properties and functionalities, resulting in a biopolymeric patch that comprises valuable characteristics for myocardial regeneration applications.

Advancements in tissue engineering for cardiovascular health: a biomedical engineering perspective.

Myocardial infarction (MI) stands as a prominent contributor to global cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates. Acute MI (AMI) can result in the loss of a large number of cardiomyocytes (CMs), which the adult heart struggles to replenish due to its limited regenerative capacity. Consequently, this deficit in CMs often precipitates severe complications such as heart failure (HF), with whole heart transplantation remaining the sole definitive treatment option, albeit constrained by inherent limitations. In response to these challenges, the integration of bio-functional materials within cardiac tissue engineering has emerged as a groundbreaking approach with significant potential for cardiac tissue replacement. Bioengineering strategies entail fortifying or substituting biological tissues through the orchestrated interplay of cells, engineering methodologies, and innovative materials. Biomaterial scaffolds, crucial in this paradigm, provide the essential microenvironment conducive to the assembly of functional cardiac tissue by encapsulating contracting cells. Indeed, the field of cardiac tissue engineering has witnessed remarkable strides, largely owing to the application of biomaterial scaffolds. However, inherent complexities persist, necessitating further exploration and innovation. This review delves into the pivotal role of biomaterial scaffolds in cardiac tissue engineering, shedding light on their utilization, challenges encountered, and promising avenues for future advancement. By critically examining the current landscape, we aim to catalyze progress toward more effective solutions for cardiac tissue regeneration and ultimately, improved outcomes for patients grappling with cardiovascular ailments.