# Exploring bioadhesion: insight on innovative strategies to investigate bioadhesive scaffolds

**Authors:** Marta Pollini, Eleonora Bianchi, Marco Ruggeri, Barbara Vigani, Silvia Rossi, Giuseppina Sandri

PMC · DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpx.2025.100359 · 2025-07-15

## TL;DR

This review explores techniques for evaluating bioadhesive scaffolds used in biomedical applications, especially wound healing.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of traditional and innovative methods for assessing bioadhesion and mucoadhesion in biomedical materials.

## Key findings

- Traditional and recent methods for evaluating bioadhesion and mucoadhesion are reviewed.
- The paper highlights the importance of selecting appropriate biological substrates for testing bioadhesion.
- Biomaterials and their adhesion mechanisms are discussed in the context of biomedical applications.

## Abstract

In the pharmaceutic field, materials with enhanced bioadhesive properties have been widely employed to produce scaffolds with deep interaction and adhesion to the biological surfaces, preventing them from dislocation and promoting cell homing, proliferation and growth. Parallelly, mucoadhesion has been extensively used to increase formulation retention onto the mucosal surface. This review aims to describe the most appropriate and relevant techniques to evaluate scaffolds bioadhesion and mucoadhesion for biomedical application, and more in details, in wound healing treatment. Different methods will be reviewed and described in order to provide an overview of the traditional approaches and the most innovative and recent tools. In addition, critical considerations on the variety of biological substrates that could be used will be reported to underline the different alternatives for testing bioadhesion, including ex-vivo and artificial options. Biomaterials, with a particular focus on bioadhesives, will be presented, as well as the mechanisms that govern bioadhesion and mucoadhesion.

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## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** FGB (fibrinogen beta chain) [NCBI Gene 2244] {aka HEL-S-78p}, F2 (coagulation factor II, thrombin) [NCBI Gene 2147] {aka PT, RPRGL2, THPH1}, Mucin [NCBI Gene 100508689]
- **Diseases:** meniscus tears (MESH:D000070600), skin lesion (MESH:D012871), inflammation (MESH:D007249), infection (MESH:D007239), allergy (MESH:D004342), pain (MESH:D010146), cutaneous (MESH:D018366), bleeding (MESH:D006470), trauma (MESH:D014947), oral mucositis (MESH:D013280), candidiasis (MESH:D002177), esophagitis (MESH:D004941)
- **Chemicals:** nitrogen (MESH:D009584), sialic acid (MESH:D019158), pectin (MESH:D010368), epoxy (MESH:D004853), Schiff base (MESH:D012545), chitin (MESH:D002686), polysaccharides (MESH:D011134), disaccharide (MESH:D004187), chloramphenicol (MESH:D002701), N-acetylgalactosamine (MESH:D000116), water (MESH:D014867), alkali (MESH:D000468), polydopamine (MESH:C568283), poly(N-isopropylacrylamide (MESH:C052970), Chitosan (MESH:D048271), galactose (MESH:D005690), amino acids (MESH:D000596), xylose (MESH:D014994), polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (MESH:C035364), dopamine (MESH:D004298), quinones (MESH:D011809), Histoacryl (MESH:D004659), heparin (MESH:D006493), glucuronic acid (MESH:D020723), hyaluronate (MESH:D006820), catechol (MESH:C034221), chondroitin sulfate (MESH:D002809), dextran sulfate (MESH:D016264), polymer (MESH:D011108), Hydrogen (MESH:D006859), N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (MESH:D000117), (hydroxypropyl) methyl cellulose (MESH:D065347), sugar (MESH:D000073893), polyacrylic acid (MESH:C006903), polycarbophil (MESH:C030312), kappa-carrageenan (MESH:D002351), lignin (MESH:D008031), acrylate (MESH:C036658), amine (MESH:D000588), thiol (MESH:D013438), oxygen (MESH:D010100), formaldehyde (MESH:D005557), hexuronic acid (MESH:D006603), glucosamine (MESH:D005944), oligosaccharide (MESH:D009844), Ca2+ (-), phospholipids (MESH:D010743), isocyanates (MESH:D017953), PU (MESH:D011140), Carbopol (MESH:C006912), polyesters (MESH:D011091), fucose (MESH:D005643), GAGs (MESH:D006025), hydroxypropyl cellulose (MESH:C008079), glycerol (MESH:D005990), sulfated-GAGs (MESH:C013786), LDI (MESH:C511489), alginate (MESH:D000464), hydroxyls (MESH:D017665), carboxylic acids (MESH:D002264)
- **Species:** Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090], Rattus norvegicus (brown rat, species) [taxon 10116], Bos taurus (bovine, species) [taxon 9913], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Sus scrofa (pig, species) [taxon 9823], Ovis aries (domestic sheep, species) [taxon 9940]
- **Cell lines:** Caco-2 — Homo sapiens (Human), Colon adenocarcinoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_0025)

## Figures

10 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12305734/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12305734