Development and systematic characterization of GelMA/alginate/PEGDMA/xanthan gum hydrogel bioink system for extrusion bioprinting

Jiannan Li, Seyedsina Moeinzadeh, Carolyn Kim, Chi Chun Pan, George Weale, Sungwoo Kim, Geoffrey Abrams, Aaron W. James, Hye Ran Choo, Charles Chan, Yunzhi Peter Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)/alginate-based hydrogels have shown great promise in bioprinting, but their printability is limited at room temperature. In this paper, we present our development of a room temperature printable hydrogel bioink by introducing polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) and xanthan gum into the GelMA/alginate system. The inclusion of PEGDMA facilitates tuning of the hydrogel's mechanical property, while xanthan gum improves the viscosity of the hydrogel system and allows easy extrusion at room temperature. To fine-tune the mechanical and degradation properties, methacrylated xanthan gum was synthesized and chemically crosslinked to the system. We systematically characterized this hydrogel with attention to printability, strut size, mechanical property, degradation and cytocompatibility, and achieved a broad range of compression modulus (∼10–100 kPa) and degradation profile (100% degradation by 24 h–40% by 2 weeks). Moreover, xanthan gum demonstrated solubility in ionic solutions such as cell culture medium, which is essential for biocompatibility. Live/dead staining showed that cell viability in the printed hydrogels was over 90% for 7 days. Metabolic activity analysis demonstrated excellent cell proliferation and survival within 4 weeks of incubation. In summary, the newly developed hydrogel system has demonstrated distinct features including extrusion printability, widely tunable mechanical property and degradation, ionic solubility, and cytocompatibility. It offers great flexibility in bioprinting and tissue engineering.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number121969
JournalBiomaterials
Volume293
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Bioprinting
  • Direct extrusion
  • GelMA/alginate bioink
  • Tissue engineering
  • Xanthan gum

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Bioengineering
  • Biophysics
  • Biomaterials

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