Degradation regulated bioactive hydrogel as the bioink with desirable moldability for microfluidic biofabrication

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers Vol. 178; pp. 8 - 17
• Main Authors: Liu, Xiaolu, Zuo, Yicong, Sun, Jing, Guo, Zhenzhen, Fan, Hongsong, Zhang, Xingdong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15-12-2017
• Subjects: Biofabrication; Bioinks; Composite hydrogel; Degradation; Microfluidics; Osteon; Bioinks; Degradation; Biofabrication; Composite hydrogel; Osteon; Microfluidics
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.09.014

•Desirable bioink with sufficient initial strength and bioactivity was generated.•Lyase digestion endowed cell with space for proliferation and function fulfillment.•Osteon-like microfibers were constructed based on microfluidic biofabrication.•Diverse assembling holds potential for fabricating complex tissue-like constructs.
Bioink development is vital in biofabriacation for generating three-dimensional (3D) tissue-like constructs. As potential candidates of bioinks, hydrogels need to meet the requirements of good moldability, initially strong mechanical properties and prominent bioactivity to guarantee cell vitality and further assembly. Enzyme-induced dynamic degradation is an efficient and biocompatible approach to improve the bioactivity of hydrogels through releasing space continuously for cell proliferation and promoting the functional establishing of engineered tissue. Here a novel bioink was designed by introducing alginate lyase into composite Alginate-GelMA hydrogels. Results showed that bioink with proper lyase content exhibited desirable modability and cytocompatibility. Then cell-laden osteon-like microfibers were engineered with the microfluidic device and diverse complex 3D constructs were also successfully assembled. This degradation-regulated bioink showed great promise in a variety of applications in tissue engineering and biomedical investigation.