A Preliminary Evaluation of the Pro-Chondrogenic Potential of 3D-Bioprinted Poly(ester Urea) Scaffolds

Abstract

<jats:p>Degeneration of articular cartilage (AC) is a common healthcare issue that can result in significantly impaired function and mobility for affected patients. The avascular nature of the tissue strongly burdens its regenerative capacity contributing to the development of more serious conditions such as osteoarthritis. Recent advances in bioprinting have prompted the development of alternative tissue engineering therapies for the generation of AC. Particular interest has been dedicated to scaffold-based strategies where 3D substrates are used to guide cellular function and tissue ingrowth. Despite its extensive use in bioprinting, the application of polycaprolactone (PCL) in AC is, however, restricted by properties that inhibit pro-chondrogenic cell phenotypes. This study proposes the use of a new bioprintable poly(ester urea) (PEU) material as an alternative to PCL for the generation of an in vitro model of early chondrogenesis. The polymer was successfully printed into 3D constructs displaying adequate substrate stiffness and increased hydrophilicity compared to PCL. Human chondrocytes cultured on the scaffolds exhibited higher cell viability and improved chondrogenic phenotype with upregulation of genes associated with type II collagen and aggrecan synthesis. Bioprinted PEU scaffolds could, therefore, provide a potential platform for the fabrication of bespoke, pro-chondrogenic tissue engineering constructs.</jats:p>

Current Applications of Polycaprolactone as a Scaffold Material for Heart Regeneration

“…Common PCL scaffold fabrication methods (top), representative scaffolds for each method (middle), and SEM images of PCL scaffolds produced by each method (bottom). (A) Electrospinning: a polymer solution is drawn into thin fibers by a high applied voltage.…”

“…(B) 3D printing: a solid polymer filament is melted by a heated extruder and shaped before cooling back to solid form. SEM image is reproduced with permission of MDPI, 2020 under open access . All rights reserved.…”

An integrated design strategy coupling additive manufacturing and matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) towards the development of a new concept 3D scaffold with improved properties for tissue regeneration

“…The drop prole was extracted as already reported in the literature. [41][42][43] Contact angles and surface free energy were evaluated and reported as mean value ± standard deviation.…”

Design of 3D Additively Manufactured Hybrid Structures for Cranioplasty

“…Even though many progresses have been made in the design of lattice structures, 3D printed scaffolds for tissue regeneration and advanced prosthesis [ 30 , 31 , 36 , 39 , 40 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], the aim of the current investigation was to design and fabricate customized hybrid devices as a further alternative for the repair of large cranial defects, integrating the reverse engineering approach with additive manufacturing. The hybrid device consisted of a 3D additive manufactured polyester porous structures infiltrated with PMMA/Cu-TCP (97.5/2.5 w / w ) bone cement.…”