In situ 3D bioprinting with bioconcrete bioink

• Published in: Nature communications 2022-06, Vol.13 (1), p.3597-3597, Article 3597
• Main Authors: Xie, Mingjun, Shi, Yang, Zhang, Chun, Ge, Mingjie, Zhang, Jingbo, Chen, Zichen, Fu, Jianzhong, Xie, Zhijian, He, Yong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13; 13/107; 3-D printers; 631/61/490; 639/301/54/990; 692/308/2778; 706/703/166/985; Athletes; Biocompatibility; Bioprinting - methods; Body temperature; Bonding strength; Cement; Composite materials; Cryopreservation; Emergency procedures; Fluidity; Friction; Gelatin; Gelatin - chemistry; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogen bonding; Hydrogen bonds; Injury prevention; Laboratories; Mechanical engineering; Mechanical properties; Methacrylates; Microenvironments; Microgels; multidisciplinary; Organs; Printing, Three-Dimensional; Repair; Rheological properties; Rheology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Skull; Three dimensional printing; Tissue engineering; Tissue Engineering - methods; Tissue Scaffolds - chemistry; Tissues
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30997-y

In-situ bioprinting is attractive for directly depositing the therapy bioink at the defective organs to repair them, especially for occupations such as soldiers, athletes, and drivers who can be injured in emergency. However, traditional bioink displays obvious limitations in its complex operation environments. Here, we design a bioconcrete bioink with electrosprayed cell-laden microgels as the aggregate and gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) precursor solution as the cement. Promising printability is guaranteed with a wide temperature range benefiting from robust rheological properties of photocrosslinked microgel aggregate and fluidity of GelMA cement. Composite components simultaneously self-adapt to biocompatibility and different tissue mechanical microenvironment. Strong binding on tissue-hydrogel interface is achieved by hydrogen bonds and friction when the cement is photocrosslinked. This bioink owns good portability and can be easily prepared in urgent accidents. Meanwhile, microgels can be cultured to mini tissues and then mixed as bioink aggregates, indicating our bioconcrete can be functionalized faster than normal bioinks. The cranial defects repair results verify the superiority of this bioink and its potential in clinical settings required in in-situ treatment. Bioinks used in current in-situ bioprinting have limitations when applied to complex operational environments. Here, the authors report on the creation of a microgel reinforced GelMA bioink which can be simply prepared and used in different biomedical settings. The application is demonstrated in a cranial defect model.