Shahin Homaeigohar - School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee

Biomimicry is a state-of-the-art nature-inspired technological perspective to develop new artificial systems. Such a goal is predominantly realized through imitating the microstructure-derived macrofunction of the biomaterials available in nature. This strategy has been largely adopted by biomedical engineers for the development of biomimetic wound dressings, e.g., those made to simulate extracellular matrix (ECM) of skin. ECM is the acellular constituent of tissues that acts as a scaffold holding the cells physically and allowing them to dynamically proliferate, migrate, and differentiate. ECM includes an amorphous assembly of proteins (collagen, mainly) and polysaccharides, forming an interconnected nano/micro-fibrous network. The protein nanofiber mesh exposes a large number of cell adhesive peptides that facilitates cell anchorage. Mimicking this biological nanostructure, biohybrid nanofibers made of a combination of synthetic and nature-derived (e.g., protein) materials are appealing for a range of biomedical applications from tissue regenerating scaffolds to wound dressings.