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All charged up about implanted biomaterials

Nature Biotechnology volume 31, pages 507–509 (2013)Cite this article

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A zwitterionic polymer hinders the foreign-body response that leads to fibrotic encapsulation of implants.

Modern healthcare offers a plethora of implantable medical devices to improve quality of life, from cardiac pacemakers and hernia meshes to newer technologies such as continuous glucose monitors, brain-stimulating electrodes and drug delivery systems. Yet the intended function of these devices is often compromised by the host's foreign-body response1, which encapsulates the implant in a fibrotic membrane. In this issue, Zhang et al.2 demonstrate that a zwitterionic hydrogel transplanted into mice does not provoke a significant foreign-body response and shows increased blood-vessel density around the implant. These findings represent a possible breakthrough in achieving the long-sought goal of preventing the fibrotic confinement of implanted medical devices.

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Figure 1: Temporal representation of the host response leading to encapsulation of an implanted material.

Marina Corral Spence

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. David W. Grainger is in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and the Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.,

    David W Grainger

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  1. David W Grainger
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Correspondence to David W Grainger.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Grainger, D. All charged up about implanted biomaterials. Nat Biotechnol 31, 507–509 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2600

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2600

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