Biomimetic Erythrocyte-Like Particles from Microfluidic Electrospray for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Microparticles have demonstrated value for regenerative medicine. Attempts in this field tend to focus on the development of intelligent multifunctional microparticles for tissue regeneration. Here, inspired by erythrocytes-associated self-repairing process in damaged tissue, we present novel biomimetic erythrocyte-like microparticles (ELMPs). These ELMPs, which are composed of extracellular matrix-like hybrid hydrogels and the functional additives of black phosphorus, hemoglobin, and growth factors (GFs), are generated by using a microfluidic electrospray. As the resultant ELMPs have the capacity for oxygen delivery and near-infrared-responsive release of both GFs and oxygen, they would have excellent biocompatibility and multifunctional performance when serving as microscaffolds for cell adhesion, stimulating angiogenesis, and adjusting the release profile of cargoes. Based on these features, we demonstrate that the ELMPs can stably overlap to fill a wound and realize controllable cargo release to achieve the desired curative effect of tissue regeneration. Thus, we consider our biomimetic ELMPs with discoid morphology and cargo-delivery capacity to be ideal for tissue engineering.

Keywords

• Biomimetics
• Erythrocyte
• Tissue engineering
• Microfluidics
• Electrospray
• Oxygen delivery