Speaker
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Title: HYDROGELS FOR 3D EXTRUSION PRINTING OF GRADIENT SCAFFOLDS
Rency Geevarghese1, Joanna Żur-Pińska1, Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun1,2 *
1Biofabrication and Bio-Instructive Materials, Biotechnology Center, The Silesian University of Technology, B. Krzywoustego 8, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
2Polymer Science, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
*corresponding author: Malgorzata.Wlodarczyk-Biegun@polsl.pl; m.k.wlodarczyk@rug.nl
Introduction: The advent of 3D printing technology has opened up a new avenue in the field of tissue engineering [1]. The cell-friendly and printable hydrogels are ideal materials for the construction of 3D biomimetic scaffolds for 3D cell cultures. However, the development of bio inks satisfying features of printability, water-retention capacity, biocompatibility, and suitable mechanical properties (i.e. stiffness) and degradability is one of the main challenges that still persist. Therefore, the current study focuses on developing a new bioink formulations based on natural-derived materials (e.g. alginate, gelatin, and hydroxyethyl cellulose) with good printability and tunable stiffness. We aim at obtaining printed hydrogel scaffolds with stiffness gradient.
Methodology:
Hydrogel materials composed of alginate, gelatin and hydro-ethyl cellulose and their functionalized versions (e.g. methacrylate functionalization) were prepared at different compositions. Their rheological properties, printability and stiffness of crosslinked gels were analyzed. The growth and proliferation of cell encapsulated in the scaffold were tested using live dead and alamar blue assay.
Results:
The results generated proved the printability of the proposed formulations with good shape fidelity. Based on rheological analysis, the scaffold showed different stiffness depending on the material composition. Printed hydrogels containing fibroblasts (NIH3T3) demonstrated high cell viability and proliferation in time. Scaffolds with stiffness gradients were successfully obtained.
Conclusion: Hydrogel scaffolds with stiffness gradients form biocompatible environment for 3D cell cultures. In future we will work on the scaffolds with higher complexity, i.e. including biochemical and topological gradients. We envision that this work will be useful for tissue engineering of native gradients structures, e.g. interfacial tissues.
This work was financially supported by the National Science Centre under the project number 2020/37/B/ST5/00743 and Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange under the project number PPN/PPO/2019/1/00004/U/0001.
Reference:
[1] S. Agarwal, et al., Current Developments in 3D Bioprinting for Tissue and Organ Regeneration–A Review, Front. Mech. Eng. (2020) 90.
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