Mariana B. Oliveira

Feng Li

Jonghoon Choi

João F. Mano

Nanotechnology has enabled the development of cutting‐edge applications in the fields of biotechnology and bioengineering. Such an impact has emerged in a plethora of technologies and devices targeted at more effective disease diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment.

In this special issue, nanostructured materials in different shapes and assembly scales are suggested for healthcare applications. Zhou et al. provide a review of recent advances in the fabrication of flexible sensors taking advantage of functional nanomaterials.^[1] Kargozar et al. provide a review on the role of quantum dots, with a focus on in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as a discussion about the clinical translation of these structures.^[2] Increasing the focus on the therapeutic potential of nanomaterials, the requests for the development of biocompatible devices for tissue regeneration or replacement are investigated by Raut et al.^[3] Discussion on tissue regeneration continues with a review by Abdollahiyan et al. on printing technologies to regenerate the osteochondral interface,^[4] as well as with the report by Tolba et al. on amorphous inorganic nanoparticles capable of improving self‐healing properties of both construction and medical cements.^[5] Besides their promising role as pro‐regenerative units, nanomaterials have also gained momentum as tools to treat tumors. Correia et al. evidenced the importance of using biomimetic 3D cellular aggregates as in vitro tumor models by studying the role of sulfobetaine methacrylate functionalized nanoparticles as enablers of combined photochemotherapy.^[6] Peptide‐based nanomaterials are also highlighted in this special issue by Deso et al., who addressed multi‐layered nanocomposites for near‐infrared light‐triggered release of drugs to treat breast cancer.^[7] Finally, the rising field of immunoengineering is addressed by Demircan et al. through the development of antigen‐presenting self‐assembled peptides with the potential to be used as vaccines for viral infections or to target cancer cells.^[8] Cui et al. review self‐assembled nanoparticles as platforms for vaccine development.^[9]

Also, the preparation of nanostructures through self‐assembly and engineering of natural substances such as peptides, magnetosomes, and exosomes is introduced,^[10-12] In these reports, the successful fabrication of nanovesicles with better affinity and stability for cancer cell targets is suggested with magnetic reactivity or tissue‐regeneration potential. Another example is the use of the physalis mottle virus nanoparticles for intelligent delivery of an anti‐cancer drug.^[13] There are reports on siRNA delivery using artificial nanostructures and cellulose nanocomposite synthesis techniques in Parkinson's disease research.^{[14, 15]} Those studies introduced an important system for the delivery of therapeutic agents in disease models in the future. A novel technology for selective isolation of biomolecules through the separation of nanomaterials using dielectrophoresis is also reported.^[16] In this study, the successful engineering of Janus nanoparticles and dielectrophoretic electrodes provides precise separation of targets and it would facilitate the detection of very small amounts of biomolecular substances attached to nanomaterials.

Bioimaging is one of the central techniques in life sciences, for which probes are essential and often greatly impact the performance of a bioimaging technique. Nanotechnologists have been developing various kinds of nanoparticles with unique physical properties and corresponding strategies for biofunctionalization of these novel probes, opening new possibilities for improvement or revolution of bioimaging. Wang et al. summarize the current state‐of‐the‐art hybrid optical probes for neural membrane potential imaging, which is one of the major challenges in neuroscience research.^[17]

All the papers in this special issue are state‐of‐the‐art research and review articles. We expect it to be helpful for researchers in biomedical engineering and nanoscience. We hope our readers will enjoy it and find here the latest trends in biomedical applications of nanomaterials.

Mariana B. Oliveira

Feng Li

Jonghoon Choi

João F. Mano

玛丽安娜·奥利维拉（Mariana B.Oliveira）

冯莉

崔钟勋

若昂·马诺

纳米技术使生物技术和生物工程领域的前沿应用得以发展。在针对更有效的疾病诊断，监测和治疗的众多技术和设备中已经出现了这种影响。

在本期特刊中，建议将不同形状和组装比例的纳米结构材料用于医疗保健应用。周等。提供了利用功能纳米材料优势制造柔性传感器的最新进展的综述。^{[ 1 ]} Kargozar等。提供有关量子点作用的综述，重点是体外和体内研究，以及有关这些结构的临床翻译的讨论。^{[ 2 ]} Raut等人研究了对纳米材料的治疗潜力的日益关注，对开发用于组织再生或置换的生物相容性设备的要求。^{[ 3 ]}Abdollahiyan等人的综述继续进行组织再生的讨论。关于印刷技术以再生骨软骨界面的研究^{[ 4 ]}，以及Tolba等人的报告。能够改善建筑和医疗水泥的自愈性能的无定形无机纳米粒子。^{[ 5 ]}纳米材料除了具有促进再生的作用外，还具有作为治疗肿瘤的工具的势头。Correia等。通过研究甲基丙烯酸磺基甜菜碱官能化的纳米颗粒作为联合光化学疗法的推动者的作用，证明了使用仿生3D细胞聚集体作为体外肿瘤模型的重要性。^{[ 6 ]}Deso等人在本期特刊中也重点介绍了基于肽的纳米材料，他研究了多层纳米复合材料用于近红外光触发的用于治疗乳腺癌的药物的释放。^{[ 7 ]}最后，Demircan等人解决了免疫工程领域的兴起。通过开发可呈递抗原的自组装肽，有潜力用作病毒感染或靶向癌细胞的疫苗。^{[ 8 ]}崔等。回顾自组装的纳米颗粒作为疫苗开发的平台。^{[ 9 ]}

此外，还介绍了通过自组装和工程改造天然物质（如肽，磁小体和外泌体）来制备纳米结构的方法，^{[ 10-12 ]}在这些报告中，成功制备出对癌细胞靶标具有更好亲和力和稳定性的纳米囊泡是成功的建议具有磁反应性或组织再生潜能。另一个例子是利用空泡斑驳病毒纳米颗粒智能递送抗癌药。^{[ 13 ]}在帕金森氏病研究中有关于使用人工纳米结构和纤维素纳米复合材料合成技术进​​行siRNA递送的报道。^{[ 14，15 ]}这些研究为将来在疾病模型中输送治疗剂引入了重要的系统。还报道了通过介电电泳通过分离纳米材料来选择性分离生物分子的新技术。^{[ 16 ]}在这项研究中，Janus纳米颗粒和介电泳电极的成功工程设计提供了目标的精确分离，这将有助于检测附着在纳米材料上的非常少量的生物分子物质。

生物成像是生命科学的核心技术之一，探针是必不可少的，并且通常会极大地影响生物成像技术的性能。纳米技术人员一直在开发具有独特物理性质的各种纳米颗粒以及这些新型探针生物功能化的相应策略，从而为改善或革新生物成像技术开辟了新的可能性。Wang等。总结了用于神经膜电位成像的最新技术，这是神经科学研究的主要挑战之一。^{[ 17 ]}

本期特刊中的所有论文均为最新的研究和评论文章。我们希望它对生物医学工程和纳米科学领域的研究人员有所帮助。我们希望我们的读者会喜欢它，并在这里找到纳米材料生物医学应用的最新趋势。

玛丽安娜·奥利维拉（Mariana B.Oliveira）

冯莉

崔钟勋

若昂·马诺