Methacrylic Acid-Based Regenerative Biomaterials: Explorations into the MAAgic

Methacrylic acid (MAA)-based biomaterials are the archetype regenerative biomaterial. Without added cells or biomolecules, MAA-based materials promote a vascularized tissue response through polarization of macrophages and generation of insulin growth factor 1, among other biological processes. We summarize what we have learned from gene expression studies with intramuscular and subcutaneous implants. We combine these insights with unbiased phosphoproteomic studies with HUVEC (hitherto unpublished) and dTHP1 cells and use STRING analysis to predict protein–protein interaction networks. Together, we hypothesize the molecules and signaling pathways that underpin the mechanism of action (i.e., the MAAgic) of MAA-based biomaterials. Integrating cells and materials is the hallmark of tissue engineering; engineering tissues without cells using regenerative biomaterials is next. Bob Nerem would have been all over this.