Brain injury, including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, traumatic brain injury, and surgical brain injury, is a devastating neurological disorder characterized by a significant lack of therapeutic approaches that effectively promote neuroplasticity, neuroregeneration, and functional recovery. In recent years, advances in biomaterials science have offered new promise in addressing this challenge. Through the rational design of biomaterials, it is now possible to precisely deliver therapeutic agents such as neurotrophic factors, non-coding RNAs, neural stem cells, and exosomes to damaged brain tissue. Moreover, these materials can create suitable biological environments and biomechanical cues that modulate the injury-site microenvironment, thereby fostering nerve repair mechanisms such as neurogenesis, angiogenesis, and axonal remodeling.

This Methods Collection will cover the following topics:

Design and Synthesis: Synthesis, characterization, and functionalization of novel biomaterials (e.g., polyrotaxane-based hydrogels)
Functional Validation: Dynamic cell–material interactions (e.g., three-dimensional culture, migration, and differentiation of neural stem cells via time-lapse imaging); in vivo assessment of material distribution, degradation, and host-tissue integration
Combinatorial Therapies: Biomaterials as delivery systems for therapeutic agents or cells (e.g., neural and mesenchymal stem cells)
Efficacy Assessment: Comprehensive evaluation from molecular and cellular to histological and behavioral levels (e.g., immunohistochemistry, motor and cognitive functional assays)

This Methods Collection aims to gather a series of standardized, reproducible, and efficient experimental protocols that leverage advanced biomaterials to advance research on neural repair and functional restoration after brain injury. We encourage researchers to submit detailed methodology articles, particularly those incorporating high-quality video demonstrations, to accelerate the dissemination and standardization of research methodologies in this field.

Lin Ye