Smart and Immunomodulatory Biomaterials for Musculoskeletal Regeneration: Bridging Design, Biomechanics, and Host Response

Musculoskeletal disorders including bone defects, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc degeneration, tendon and ligament injuries, and orthopedic implant-related complications remain a leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite progress in surgical and pharmacological interventions, restoring full structural and biological function remains a major challenge, particularly in load-bearing tissues and complex tissue interfaces. Advances in biomaterials science, immunoengineering, and computational biomechanics are converging to enable a new generation of regenerative strategies that not only replace damaged tissue but actively modulate the host environment to promote functional recovery.This Research Topic aims to bring together multidisciplinary advances in smart and immunomodulatory biomaterials, scaffold engineering, and biomechanical modeling for musculoskeletal regeneration. Despite encouraging preclinical results, key translational challenges remain including controlling the immune and foreign body response, achieving long-term mechanical stability under physiological loading, optimizing scaffold architecture for tissue-specific regeneration, and preventing implant-related infection. By integrating perspectives from materials science, immunology, biomechanics, and computational modeling, this collection seeks to consolidate current progress, identify translational bottlenecks, and accelerate the clinical adoption of next-generation regenerative technologies for orthopedic and musculoskeletal applications.We welcome manuscripts addressing the engineering, evaluation, and translation of biomaterials and computational tools for musculoskeletal regeneration. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:o Smart and stimulus-responsive biomaterials for bone, cartilage, tendon, and ligament repairo Immunomodulatory scaffolds and strategies to control the foreign body response and chronic inflammationo Antibacterial and anti-infective biomaterials for orthopedic implants and infected tissue defectso Nanocomposite and bioactive scaffolds for osteogenesis, chondrogenesis, and interface tissue regenerationo Drug and growth factor delivery systems integrated with regenerative scaffoldso Biomechanical evaluation and finite element modeling of scaffolds, implants, and tissue constructso Patient-specific and computational design of orthopedic implants and regenerative deviceso In vivo models and translational studies addressing safety, efficacy, and clinical relevanceo Multidisciplinary approaches combining biomaterials, immunoengineering, and biomechanics for musculoskeletal repairSubmissions integrating biomaterials design, immune regulation, and biomechanical performance in a unified framework are especially encouraged. Topic editors: Dr.Hemalatha Kanniyappan, SUDIP CHAKRABORTY, Vicky Varghese, Jue Ling Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82267/smart-and-immunomodulatory-biomaterials-for-musculoskeletal-regeneration-bridging-design-biomechanics-and-host-response