Immunomodulatory application of engineered hydrogels in regenerative medicine

Abstract With unique physicochemical properties such as high-water content, drug loading capacity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, hydrogels are promising materials for biomedical applications. In addition, they can be designed into specific functionalities such as self-healing, injectable, shape memory, and stimuli-responsive. Based on above features, hydrogels hold great potential as biomaterials for regenerative medicine. On the other hand, immunobiology is a field that has experienced rapid development in the past few years. Hydrogels are three-dimensional (3D) polymer networks that have superior biocompatibility and therefore easy to be processed for immunoregulation. In this review we explore the role played by hydrogels in regenerative medicine, particularly with regards to their role in immunobiology, their effect of immunomodulation as well as regenerative efficacy. We believe these great achievements will provide valuable reference to choose ideal hydrogels for biomedical application, especially for the development of immunobiology.