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Author Spotlight: Understanding Chronic Lung Diseases Using 3D Printed Phototunable Hydrogels

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Reprogrammable 4D tissue engineering hydrogel scaffold via reversible ion printing.

Aixiang Ding^1,2, Fang Tang³, Sriramya Ayyagari¹

¹Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.

Bioactive Materials

|March 20, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a novel, simple method for creating shape-changing hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering. The ion-transfer printing (ITP) technique allows for programmable, multi-directional shape manipulation and reprogramming of engineered tissues.

Keywords:

4D printing Biomimicry Crosslinking gradient Shape morphing Tissue development

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Area of Science:

Biomaterials Science
Tissue Engineering
Soft Matter Physics

Background:

Shape-morphable hydrogels are crucial for tissue engineering (TE) but current methods are complex and limited.
Existing multimaterial hydrogels often require time-consuming fabrication and only allow unidirectional deformation.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a fast, simple, and robust hydrogel system for manipulating soft tissue shapes.
To enable multi-directional shape morphing and shape reprogramming in cell-laden constructs.

Main Methods:

Utilized ion-transfer printing (ITP) to create tunable ion crosslinking density gradients.
Combined ITP with surface patterning for multi-directional deformation of cell-laden constructs (bioconstructs).
Demonstrated shape recovery via chemical treatment and shape reprogramming through iterative ITP.

Main Results:

Achieved preprogrammable deformations in hydrogels via swelling in cell culture media.
Created sophisticated 3D bioconstruct configurations capable of multi-directional morphing.
Successfully demonstrated 3D-to-3D shape conversions and shape manipulation in engineered cartilage constructs.

Conclusions:

The developed transformable hydrogel system offers a versatile platform for advanced tissue engineering.
This approach enables sophisticated spatiotemporal control over construct shape evolution, advancing 4D tissue engineering.
The method provides a simple, robust, and reprogrammable solution for creating dynamic tissue constructs.