Bioprinting
is a biofabrication technology which allows efficient
and large-scale manufacture of 3D cell culture systems. However, the
available biomaterials for bioinks used in bioprinting are limited
by their printability and biological functionality. Fabricated constructs
are often homogeneous and have limited complexity in terms of current
3D cell culture systems comprising multiple cell types. Inspired by
the phenomenon that hydrogels can exchange liquids under the infiltration
action, infiltration-induced suspension bioprinting (IISBP), a novel
printing technique based on a hyaluronic acid (HA) suspension system
to modulate the properties of the printed scaffolds by infiltration
action, was described in this study. HA served as a suspension system
due to its shear-thinning and self-healing rheological properties,
simplicity of preparation, reusability, and ease of adjustment to
osmotic pressure. Changes in osmotic pressure were able to direct
the swelling or shrinkage of 3D printed gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)-based
bioinks, enabling the regulation of physical properties such as fiber
diameter, micromorphology, mechanical strength, and water absorption
of 3D printed scaffolds. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC)
were applied as a cell culture model and printed within cell-laden
scaffolds at high resolution and cell viability with the IISBP technique.
Herein, the IISBP technique had been realized as a reliable hydrogel-based
bioprinting technique, which enabled facile modulation of 3D printed
hydrogel scaffolds properties, being expected to meet the scaffolds
requirements of a wide range of cell culture conditions to be utilized
in bioprinting applications.
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