The exploration of biomimetic materials within the food industry has seen recent advancements, yet their practical application remains limited, particularly in food preservation. Significant challenges currently persist from the research and development phase to the investigation of practical applications. Therefore, it is imperative to promptly review the existing research, discuss the challenges, and propose constructive suggestions for current scientific trends. This paper initially summarizes naturally occurring superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic organisms, followed by an analysis of the primary obstacles hindering the practical use of these materials. Subsequently, we delve into fresh-keeping materials inspired by plants, insects, shellfish, and fish. Finally, we forecast the trajectory of this field to direct future research, given the extensive potential of biomimetic materials in food preservation. This study aims to effectively guide the research and development of biomimetic materials and their application within the food preservation industry.

BACKGROUND: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is defined by persistent inflammatory processes within the gastrointestinal tract of uncertain etiology. Current therapeutic approaches are limited in their ability to address oxidative stress, inflammation, barrier function restoration, and modulation of gut microbiota in a coordinated manner to maintain intestinal homeostasis.
RESULTS: This study involves the construction of a metal-phenolic nanozyme (Cur-Fe) through a ferric ion-mediated oxidative coupling of curcumin. Cur-Fe nanozyme exhibits superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like and •OH scavenging activities, demonstrating significant anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties for maintaining intracellular redox balance in vitro. Drawing inspiration from Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN), a biomimetic Cur-Fe nanozyme (CF@EM) is subsequently developed by integrating Cur-Fe into the EcN membrane (EM) to improve the in vivo targeting ability and therapeutic effectiveness of the Cur-Fe nanozyme. When orally administered, CF@EM demonstrates a strong ability to colonize the inflamed colon and restore intestinal redox balance and barrier function in DSS-induced colitis models. Importantly, CF@EM influences the gut microbiome towards a beneficial state by enhancing bacterial diversity and shifting the compositional structure toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Furthermore, analysis of intestinal microbial metabolites supports the notion that the therapeutic efficacy of CF@EM is closely associated with bile acid metabolism.
CONCLUSIONS: Inspired by gut microbes, we have successfully synthesized a biomimetic Cur-Fe nanozyme with the ability to inhibit inflammation and restore intestinal homeostasis. Collectively, without appreciable systemic toxicity, this work provides an unprecedented opportunity for targeted oral nanomedicine in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

The transport of ions through biological ion channels is regulated not only by their structural characteristics but also by the composition of the phospholipid membrane, which serves as a carrier for nanochannels. Inspired by the modulation of ion currents by lipid membrane composition, exemplified by the activation of the K+ channel of Streptomyces A by anionic lipids, we present a biomimetic nanochannel system based on combining DNA nanotechnology with two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. By designing multibranched DNA nanowires, we assemble programmable DNA scaffold networks (DSNs) on the GO surface to precisely control membrane composition. Modulating the DSN layers from one to five enhances DNA composition, yielding a maximum 12-fold enhancement in ion current, primarily due to charge effects. Incorporating DNAzymes facilitates reversible modulation of membrane composition, enabling cyclic conversion of ion current. This approach offers a pathway for creating devices with highly efficient, tunable ion transport, applicable in diverse fields like mass transport, environmental protection, biomimetic channels, and biosensors.

Soft actuators made of soft materials cannot generate precisely efficient output forces compared to rigid actuators. It is a promising strategy to equip soft actuators with variable stiffness modules of layer jamming mechanism, which could increase their stiffness as needed. Inspired by the gecko\'s the array of setae, bionic adhesive flaps with inclined micropillars are applied in layer jamming mechanism. In this paper, after the manufacturing process of the layer jamming actuator based on the bionic adhesive flaps is described, the equivalent stiffness models of the whole actuator are established in the unjammed and jammed states. And the shear adhesive force of a single micropillar is calculated based on the Kendall viscoelastic band model. The finite element simulation results of two bionic adhesive flaps show that the interlaminar shear stress and stiffness increase with the increase of pressure. The measurement of shear adhesive force show that the critical shear adhesive force of the bionic adhesive material is 3.2 times that of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, and exhibit the ability of anisotropic adhesion behavior. The variable stiffness performance of the layer jamming actuator based on bionic adhesive flaps is evaluated by three test methods, and the max stiffness reaches 8.027 N mm-1, which is 1.5 times higher than the stiffness of the layer jamming actuator based on the PET flaps. All results of simulation and experiment effectively verify the validity and superiority of applying the bionic adhesive flaps to the layer jamming mechanism to enhance the stiffness.

Replicating the microstructural basis and the near 100% excitation energy transfer efficiency in naturally occurring light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) remains challenging in synthetic energy-harvesting devices. Biological photosynthesis regulates active ensembles of light-absorbing and funneling chlorophylls in proteins in response to fluctuating sunlight. Here, use of long-range liquid crystal (LC) ordering to tailor chain orientation and packing structure in liquid crystalline conjugated polymer (LCCP) layers for bio-mimicry of certain structural basis and light-harvesting properties of LHCs is reported. It is found that long-range orientational ordering in an LC phase of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) copolymer stabilizes a small fraction of randomly-oriented F8BT nanocrystals dispersed in an amorphous matrix of F8BT chains, resembling a self-doped host-guest system whereby excitation energy funneling and photoluminescence quantum efficiencies are enhanced significantly by triggering 3D donor-to-acceptor Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and dominant intrachain emission in the nano-crystal acceptor. Further, photoalignment of nematic F8BT layers is combined with LC orientational ordering to fabricate large-area-extended monodomains exhibiting >60% crystallinity and ≈20 nm-long interchain packing order. Remarkably, these monodomains demonstrate strong linearly polarized emission, whilst also promoting a new band-edge absorption species and an extra emissive interchain excited state as compared to the non-aligned films.

The impressive adhesive capacity of marine mussels has inspired various fascinating designs in biomedical fields. Mussel-inspired injectable adhesive hydrogels, as a type of promising mussel-inspired material, have attracted much attention due to their minimally invasive property and desirable functions provided by mussel-inspired components. In recent decades, various mussel-inspired injectable adhesive hydrogels have been designed and widely applied in numerous biomedical fields. The rational incorporation of mussel-inspired catechol groups endows the injectable hydrogels with the potential to exhibit many properties, including tissue adhesiveness and self-healing, antimicrobial, and antioxidant capabilities, broadening the applications of injectable hydrogels in biomedical fields. In this review, we first give a brief introduction to the adhesion mechanism of mussels and the characteristics of injectable hydrogels. Further, the typical design strategies of mussel-inspired injectable adhesive hydrogels are summarized. The methodologies for integrating catechol groups into polymers and the crosslinking methods of mussel-inspired hydrogels are discussed in this section. In addition, we systematically overview recent mussel-inspired injectable adhesive hydrogels for biomedical applications, with a focus on how the unique properties of these hydrogels benefit their applications in these fields. The challenges and perspectives of mussel-inspired injectable hydrogels are discussed in the last section. This review may provide new inspiration for the design of novel bioinspired injectable hydrogels and facilitate their application in various biomedical fields.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite significant advances in current drug therapies, issues such as poor drug targeting and severe side effects persist. In recent years, nanomedicine has been extensively applied in the research and treatment of CVDs. Among these, biomembrane-modified biomimetic nanodrug delivery systems (BNDSs) have emerged as a research focus due to their unique biocompatibility and efficient drug delivery capabilities. By modifying with biological membranes, BNDSs can effectively reduce recognition and clearance by the immune system, enhance biocompatibility and circulation time in vivo, and improve drug targeting. This review first provides an overview of the classification and pathological mechanisms of CVDs, then systematically summarizes the research progress of BNDSs in the treatment of CVDs, discussing their design principles, functional characteristics, and clinical application potential. Finally, it highlights the issues and challenges faced in the clinical translation of BNDSs.

The proper organization of cells and tissues is essential for their functionalization in living organisms. To create materials that mimic natural structures, researchers have developed techniques such as patterning, templating, and printing. Although these techniques own several advantages, these processes still involve complexity, are time-consuming, and have high cost. To better simulate natural materials with micro/nanostructures that have evolved for millions of years, the use of ice templates has emerged as a promising method for producing biomimetic materials more efficiently. This article explores the historical approaches taken to produce traditional biomimetic structural biomaterials and delves into the principles underlying the ice-template method and their various applications in the creation of biomimetic materials. It also discusses the most recent biomedical uses of biomimetic materials created via ice templates, including porous microcarriers, tissue engineering scaffolds, and smart materials. Finally, the challenges and potential of current ice-template technology are analyzed.

Engineered biohybrids have recently emerged as innovative biomimetic platforms for cancer therapeutic applications. Particularly, engineered photoresponsive biohybrids hold tremendous potential against tumors due to their intriguing biomimetic properties, photoresponsive ability, and enhanced biotherapeutic functions. In this review, the design principles of engineered photoresponsive biohybrids and their latest progresses for tumor therapy are summarized. Representative engineered photoresponsive biohybrids are highlighted including biomolecules-associated, cell membrane-based, eukaryotic cell-based, bacteria-based, and algae-based photoresponsive biohybrids. Representative tumor therapeutic modalities of the engineered photoresponsive biohybrids are presented, including photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, synergistic therapy, and tumor therapy combined with tissue regeneration. Moreover, the challenges and future perspectives of these photoresponsive biohybrids for clinical practice are discussed.

Biomolecular condensates are dynamic liquid droplets through intracellular liquid-liquid phase separation that function as membraneless organelles, which are highly involved in various complex cellular processes and functions. Artificial analogs formed via similar pathways that can be integrated with biological complexity and advanced functions have received tremendous research interest in the field of synthetic biology. The coacervate droplet-based compartments can partition and concentrate a wide range of solutes, which are regarded as attractive candidates for mimicking phase-separation behaviors and biophysical features of biomolecular condensates. The use of peptide-based materials as phase-separating components has advantages such as the diversity of amino acid residues and customized sequence design, which allows for programming their phase-separation behaviors and the physicochemical properties of the resulting compartments. In this Perspective, we highlight the recent advancements in the design and construction of biomimicry condensates from synthetic peptides relevant to intracellular phase-separating protein, with specific reference to their molecular design, self-assembly via phase separation, and biorelated applications, to envisage the use of peptide-based droplets as emerging biomedical delivery vehicles.