A Universal Strategy to Construct High-Performance Homo- and Heterogeneous Microgel Assembly Bioinks

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• 3D Bioprinting

Background:

• Conventional hydrogel and microgel bioinks struggle to achieve both high shape fidelity and maintain cell viability/function.
• This limitation restricts the development of qualified bioinks for complex tissue replication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a universal strategy for constructing high-performance microgel assembly (MA) bioinks.
• To enhance bioink properties for advanced 3D extrusion bioprinting applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized epigallocatechin gallate-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-EGCG) for surface coating via mussel-inspired chemistry.
• Employed phenylboronic acid grafted hyaluronic acid (HA-PBA) to form dynamic bonds with HA-EGCG, creating MA bioinks.
• Demonstrated applicability to various microgel materials for creating homo- and heterogeneous MA bioinks.

Main Results:

• The developed MA bioinks exhibited excellent rheological properties, self-healing capabilities, and tissue adhesion.
• Successfully achieved hierarchical printing of complex structures with high fidelity.
• Demonstrated in vitro printing of breast cancer organoids using homo-MA and hetero-MA bioinks for drug testing.

Conclusions:

• This universal strategy provides a new solution for constructing high-performance bioinks for extrusion bioprinting.
• The MA bioinks offer improved performance for replicating complex tissue architectures and functions.
• The method enables the creation of sophisticated bioprinted constructs for applications like organoid modeling and drug screening.