Cyclodextrin-based biomaterials for tissue regeneration: design strategies, biomedical applications, and translational insights.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) have emerged as versatile building blocks for regenerative biomaterials owing to their unique host-guest chemistry, biocompatibility, and structural tunability. Beyond their traditional role as pharmaceutical excipients, CDs enable the design of multifunctional platforms capable of controlled therapeutic delivery, biomolecule stabilization, and microenvironment-responsive behavior. This review provides a comprehensive overview of CD-based biomaterials for tissue regeneration, covering their structural features, functionalization strategies, and fabrication into hydrogels, nanoparticles, scaffolds, composite systems, and stimuli-responsive platforms. Particular emphasis is placed on the mechanisms through which CD-based materials regulate therapeutic release, modulate cellular responses, and support tissue repair across bone, cartilage, cardiac, neural, hepatic, skin, and ocular applications. This review further critically discusses safety considerations, regulatory challenges, and translational barriers that currently limit clinical adoption. Emerging opportunities, including personalized regenerative medicine, 3D/4D bioprinting, and AI-assisted biomaterial design, are highlighted as promising directions for the development of next-generation regenerative therapies. Collectively, CD-based biomaterials represent a rapidly evolving platform with significant potential to advance tissue engineering and clinical regeneration.