Biotechnologically Derived Materials as Drug Delivery Systems for Tissue Regeneration.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Drug Delivery Systems

Background:

• Regenerative medicine aims to restore damaged tissues using endogenous repair or engineered strategies.
• Drug delivery systems (DDSs) are crucial for localized, sustained release of bioactive agents in tissue regeneration.
• Biotechnology has spurred the development of innovative DDSs from biological materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances in biotechnologically derived materials for drug delivery in regenerative medicine.
• To critically analyze recombinant proteins (collagen, elastin, silk) and microbial polysaccharides (cellulose, hyaluronic acid, alginate) as DDS platforms.
• To evaluate the physicochemical and biofunctional characteristics of these materials.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of recent peer-reviewed studies.
• Evaluation of material properties including mechanical moduli, water retention, and bioadhesion.
• Assessment of drug encapsulation and release kinetics.

Main Results:

• Recombinant proteins offer tunable mechanical properties (~0.5–50 kPa), mimicking the extracellular matrix.
• Microbial polysaccharides exhibit high water retention (>90%), flexibility, and bioadhesion, suitable for soft tissue engineering.
• These materials effectively encapsulate therapeutics (growth factors, nucleic acids, small molecules) with release half-lives of 1–6 weeks.

Conclusions:

• Biotechnologically derived DDSs are a promising frontier in regenerative medicine.
• Recombinant proteins and microbial polysaccharides provide versatile platforms for targeted tissue repair.
• Combining recombinant engineering precision with microbial fermentation scalability enhances therapeutic potential.