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Bioprinting Cellularized Constructs Using a Tissue-specific Hydrogel Bioink
Published on: April 21, 2016
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Bioprinting Cellularized Constructs Using a Tissue-specific Hydrogel Bioink.
Aleksander Skardal1, Mahesh Devarasetty2, Hyun-Wook Kang2
1Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest Univeristy Health Sciences; askardal@wakehealth.edu.
Journal of Visualized Experiments : Jove
|May 12, 2016
Summary
Researchers developed a novel hyaluronic acid and gelatin-based bioink for bioprinting. This advanced bioink supports cell viability and function, enabling the creation of functional tissue constructs for drug screening and potential organ replacement.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Materials Science
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Bioprinting technology offers potential for creating tissue-engineered organs for transplantation and organoids for drug screening.
- Current bioprinting applications are limited by the availability of suitable bioinks that support cell viability and provide tissue-specific cues.
- Hyaluronic acid (HA) and gelatin are biocompatible polymers with potential for developing advanced bioinks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a versatile hyaluronic acid (HA) and gelatin-based hydrogel system for bioprinting.
- To create bioinks that can mimic in vivo tissue mechanical properties and provide tissue-specific biochemical signals.
- To demonstrate the utility of the developed bioink system for creating functional in vitro liver constructs.
Main Methods:
- A multi-crosslinker, 2-stage crosslinking protocol was employed using hyaluronic acid and gelatin.
- Tissue-derived extracellular matrix materials and growth factors were incorporated to provide biochemical cues.
- Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based crosslinkers with varying properties were used to control construct mechanical properties.
- Primary liver spheroids were bioprinted using the developed bioink to create liver constructs.
Main Results:
- The developed hydrogel system allowed for tunable mechanical properties ranging from 100 Pa to 20 kPa.
- Bioprinted liver constructs exhibited high cell viability.
- The constructs demonstrated measurable functional output, including albumin and urea production.
- The bioink system proved versatile for creating tissue-specific constructs.
Conclusions:
- A versatile HA and gelatin-based hydrogel bioink system was successfully developed.
- This system enables the creation of bioprinted constructs with tunable mechanical properties and biochemical cues.
- The developed methodology provides a framework for fabricating various tissue-engineered constructs for regenerative medicine and drug discovery.
