Topic: Bioinspired Soft Biomaterials and Hydrogel-Based Microphysiological Systems for 3D Tissue Modeling and Regenerative Medicine

Bioinspired soft biomaterials, particularly hydrogels, have attracted increasing attention in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) due to their tunable mechanical properties, structural versatility, and ability to mimic the native extracellular matrix. Through the integration of bioactive components, advanced crosslinking strategies, and tailored material architectures, these biomaterials provide cell-instructive and biomimetic microenvironments for regulating cellular behaviors and supporting tissue development.

Meanwhile, hydrogel-based microphysiological systems, including organ-on-a-chip and tissue-on-a-chip platforms, offer promising approaches for constructing physiologically relevant 3D tissue models. By combining biomimetic hydrogels with microfluidics and multicellular culture technologies, these systems enable the investigation of cell–matrix interactions, tissue-specific functions, and disease mechanisms, with potential applications in drug screening and therapeutic evaluation.

This Special Topic aims to highlight recent advances in the design, fabrication, characterization, and biomedical applications of bioinspired soft biomaterials and hydrogel-based microphysiological systems. We welcome original research articles and reviews covering innovative hydrogel systems, biomimetic 3D tissue models, advanced biofabrication strategies, and emerging applications in TERM and New Approach Methodologies (NAM’s).

Key areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

● Bioinspired soft biomaterials, nanomaterials and artificial extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimetic hydrogels;
● Hydrogel network and bioinks engineering, crosslinking strategies, and processing methods
● Design of hydrogels with tunable degradability, and mechanical and viscoelastic properties;
● Mechanobiology, cell–material interactions, and biomaterial-mediated tissue development;
● Bioactive and stimuli-responsive hydrogels for regulating cell–matrix interactions and cellular behaviors;
● Hydrogel-based microphysiological systems, organ-on-a-chip, and physiological-relevant tissue-on-a-chip platforms;
● 3D tissue constructs, spheroids, organoids, and multicellular co-culture systems for tissue modeling;
● Hydrogel biofabrication, 3D (bio)printing, microfabrication, and advanced scaffold engineering;
● Functionalization of hydrogels considering their context of use in NAM’s, including sensing and imaging modalities;
● Natural polymer-based, synthetic, and hybrid hydrogel systems for TERM;
● Hydrogel-based scaffolds and biomaterials for tissue repair, regeneration, and cell-based therapies;

● Hydrogels for (bio)fabrication of Engineered Living Materials (ELM’s). Applications of hydrogel-based 3D tissue models in disease modeling and drug screening.