Irregular defects generated by trauma or surgery in orthopaedics practice were usually difficult to be fitted by the preformed traditional bone graft substitute. Therefore, the injectable hydrogels have attracted an increasing interest for bone repair because of their fittability and mini-invasivity. However, the uncontrollable spreading or mechanical failures during its manipulation remain a problem to be solved. Moreover, in order to achieve vascularized bone regeneration, alternatives of osteogenic and angiogenic growth factors should be adopted to avoid the problem of immunogenicity and high cost.

Diabetes mellitus is a complicated metabolic disease that has become one of the fastest-growing health crises in modern society. Diabetic patients may suffer from various complications, and diabetic foot is one of them. It can lead to increased rates of lower-extremity amputation and mortality, even seriously threatening the life and health of patients. Because its healing process is affected by various factors, its management and treatment are very challenging. To address these problems, smart biomaterials have been developed to expedite diabetic wound closure and improve treatment outcomes. This review begins with a discussion of the basic mechanisms of wound recovery and the limitations of current dressings used for diabetic wound healing. Then, the categories and characteristics of the smart biomaterial scaffolds, which can be utilized as a delivery system for drugs with anti-inflammatory activity, bioactive agency, and antibacterial nanoparticles for diabetic wound treatment were described. In addition, it can act as a responsive system to the stimulus of the pH, reactive oxygen species, and glucose concentration from the wound microenvironment. These results show that smart biomaterials have an enormous perspective for the treatment of diabetic wounds in all stages of healing. Finally, the advantages of the construction of smart biomaterials are summarized, and possible new strategies for the clinical management of diabetic wounds are proposed.

Blood vessels not only transport oxygen and nutrients to each organ, but also play an important role in the regulation of tissue regeneration. Impaired or occluded vessels can result in ischemia, tissue necrosis, or even life-threatening events. Bioengineered vascular grafts have become a promising alternative treatment for damaged or occlusive vessels. Large-scale tubular grafts, which can match arteries, arterioles, and venules, as well as meso- and microscale vasculature to alleviate ischemia or prevascularized engineered tissues, have been developed. In this review, materials and techniques for engineering tubular scaffolds and vasculature at all levels are discussed. Examples of vascularized tissue engineering in bone, peripheral nerves, and the heart are also provided. Finally, the current challenges are discussed and the perspectives on future developments in biofunctional engineered vessels are delineated.