Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2026, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (20): 5270-5281.doi: 10.12307/2026.149

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Recruitable tissue repair biomaterials: advantages of regulating cell and factor migration and improving tissue integration

Diao Youlu, Gao Jia, Pan Guoqing   

  1. Institue for Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Accepted:2025-04-07 Online:2026-07-18 Published:2025-12-02
  • Contact: Pan Guoqing, Doctoral supervisor, Institue for Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu Province, China
  • About author:Diao Youlu, Master candidate, Institue for Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Supported by:
    Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province, No. KYCX24_3950 (to DYL); National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 32401113 and 32222041 (to GJ, PGQ); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, No. 2024M751193, (to GJ); National Funding for Postdoctoral Researchers Program, No. GZC20240617 (to GJ); Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent, No. 2024ZB698 (to GJ); Natural Science Research Project of Higher Education Institutions in Jiangsu Province, No. 24KJB430013 (to GJ)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Recruitable tissue repair biomaterials promote the application of regenerative medicine by precisely regulating cell migration, differentiation, and facilitating tissue repair and regeneration.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the current research status of recruitable tissue repair biomaterials in the field of regenerative medicine.
METHODS: The first author meticulously retrieved articles from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and PubMed databases, covering the time span from January 2010 to March 2025. The search terms employed were “biomaterials, recruitment, repair, osteogenesis, cartilage, vascularization” in Chinese and English. After rigorous screening, 90 articles that fulfilled the predefined criteria were included in this review.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the field of tissue repair, recruitable tissue repair biomaterials have shown significant value due to their ability to precisely regulate cell migration, proliferation behavior and growth factor activity. By optimizing the spatiotemporal release pattern of growth factors and the activation efficiency of signal pathways, these materials can accelerate directional migration of wound surfaces, thereby promoting tissue regeneration compared with traditional materials. At the design level, adjusting the hydrophilicity, degradation rate and mechanical modulus of the material can ensure the mechanical compatibility and safe degradation of the implant and tissue. In terms of functionalization, surface modification with affinity molecules such as arginine-glycine-aspartic acid peptides and heparin can give the material the ability to specifically bind to integrin receptors or fix growth factors, directly enhancing the target cell adhesion efficiency and prolonging the local action time of growth factors. With controllable degradation-regeneration matching, efficient spatial guidance ability and low immunogenicity, recruitable tissue repair biomaterials provide new tools for difficult problems such as bone defects and vascular regeneration, and expand to the field of complex tissue regeneration such as nerves and cartilage.

Key words: recruitable biomaterial, cell recruitment, growth factor recognition, cellular regulation, tissue repair, biomaterial

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