Immunomodulatory Biomaterials for Cardiac Repair

Cardiac injury remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, imposing an increasing social and economic burden. Due to the limited regeneration capacity of adult heart tissue, cardiac function after injury cannot be fully restored, and often progresses to heart failure despite advances in surgical and drug therapies. Thus, developing effective treatment strategies has become an urgent public health problem to be solved. Recently, the pivotal role of the immune system in cardiac injury and repair has been extensively studied. The integration of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine has underscored the potential of biomaterials designed to harness the capabilities of immune cells as a promising strategy for cardiac repair. Herein, we briefly describe the immune response in cardiac repair, summarize the application of immunomodulatory biomaterials for post-injury cardiac repair, and discuss their future development directions.