With the advances in the understanding of cell interactions with their microenvironments, biomaterials mimicking native microenvironments are being developed to display and deliver cell-regulatory signals in a precise and near-physiological fashion, which are used to regulate cell behavior and fate both in vitro and in vivo. Such biomaterials can provide the necessary microenvironmental cues based on chemistry, topography, mechanics, and molecule delivery. This has significantly promoted the applications of biomaterials to tissue engineering and disease treatment. This report has summarized the recent progress made in the field by focusing on native microenvironment-mimetic biomaterials utilized as tissue scaffolding and other implant devices. In particular, material properties that direct cellular behavior through controlled presentation of specific cues in time or in space, such as the material composition and material surface functionality, structure, topology, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, charge and energy, as well as the material topology density and mechanics, have been discussed in great detail. It is anticipated that the synergy of cell biology and modern material technologies will have a profound impact on the design and development of new generations of biomaterials.
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