Abstract
Although three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology has gained much attention in the field of tissue engineering, there are still several significant engineering challenges to overcome, including lack of bioink with biocompatibility and printability. Here, we show a bioink created from silk fibroin (SF) for digital light processing (DLP) 3D bioprinting in tissue engineering applications. The SF-based bioink (Sil-MA) was produced by a methacrylation process using glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) during the fabrication of SF solution. The mechanical and rheological properties of Sil-MA hydrogel proved to be outstanding in experimental testing and can be modulated by varying the Sil-MA contents. This Sil-MA bioink allowed us to build highly complex organ structures, including the heart, vessel, brain, trachea and ear with excellent structural stability and reliable biocompatibility. Sil-MA bioink is well-suited for use in DLP printing process and could be applied to tissue and organ engineering depending on the specific biological requirements.
Highlights
Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Republic of Korea
We demonstrate a technique to develop an effective bioink for digital light processing (DLP) printing with chemically modified Silk fibroin (SF) by glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) (Sil-MA)
We demonstrate the biocompatibility of the Sil-MA hydrogels prepared by DLP printing and its printability for different organs with complex structures
Summary
Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Republic of Korea. These authors contributed : Soon Hee Kim, Yeung Kyu Yeon, Jung Min Lee. The extrusion bioprinter was developed by modifying the inkjet printer and uses an air pump or a screw plunger to dispense bioinks Because of this design, the extrusion type printer is compatible with hydrogels of various viscosities, but larger mechanical stresses on the encapsulated cells from more viscous hydrogels and a relatively long printing time can reduce cell viability by 40–80%3,13. The printable materials or bioinks need to satisfy several essential criteria in terms of printability, biocompatibility, and biomimetic properties, including structural and mechanical stability. Hydrogels, which form 3D crosslinked hydrated fibers, are suitable as a bioink in 3D bioprinting They can be used as a cell matrix, and provide a mechanically supportive microenvironment, that can be modified to mimic native tissue and its extracellular matrix. SF itself has not been used for DLP printing due to the absence of a crosslinkage site essential for photopolymerization and we do not believe that SF has ever been modified with methacrylate groups directly for light polymerization
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