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Moeun BN, Fernandez SA, Collin S, Gauvin-Rossignol G, Lescot T, Fortin MA, Ruel J, Bégin-Drolet A, Leask RL, Hoesli CA. Improving the 3D Printability of Sugar Glass to Engineer Sacrificial Vascular Templates. 3D Print Addit Manuf 2023; 10:869-886. [PMID: 37886415 PMCID: PMC10599441 DOI: 10.1089/3dp.2021.0147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
A prominent obstacle in scaling up tissue engineering technologies for human applications is engineering an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients throughout artificial tissues. Sugar glass has emerged as a promising 3D-printable, sacrificial material that can be used to embed perfusable networks within cell-laden matrices to improve mass transfer. To characterize and optimize a previously published sugar ink, we investigated the effects of sucrose, glucose, and dextran concentration on the glass transition temperature (Tg), printability, and stability of 3D-printed sugar glass constructs. We identified a sucrose ink formulation with a significantly higher Tg (40.0 ± 0.9°C) than the original formulation (sucrose-glucose blend, Tg = 26.2 ± 0.4°C), which demonstrated a pronounced improvement in printability, resistance to bending, and final print stability, all without changing dissolution kinetics and decomposition temperature. This formulation allowed printing of 10-cm-long horizontal cantilever filaments, which can enable the printing of complex vascular segments along the x-, y-, and z-axes without the need for supporting structures. Vascular templates with a single inlet and outlet branching into nine channels were 3D printed using the improved formulation and subsequently used to generate perfusable alginate constructs. The printed lattice showed high fidelity with respect to the input geometry, although with some channel deformation after alginate casting and gelation-likely due to alginate swelling. Compared with avascular controls, no significant acute cytotoxicity was noted when casting pancreatic beta cell-laden alginate constructs around improved ink filaments, whereas a significant decrease in cell viability was observed with the original ink. The improved formulation lends more flexibility to sugar glass 3D printing by facilitating the fabrication of larger, more complex, and more stable sacrificial networks. Rigorous characterization and optimization methods for improving sacrificial inks may facilitate the fabrication of functional cellular constructs for tissue engineering, cellular biology, and other biomedical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Simon Collin
- Mechanical Engineering, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | | | - Theophraste Lescot
- Axe Médecine Régénératrice, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CR-CHUQ), Québec, Canada
- Centre de Recherche sur les Matériaux Avancés (CERMA), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
- Département de Génie des Mines, de la Métallurgie et des Matériaux, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Marc-André Fortin
- Axe Médecine Régénératrice, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CR-CHUQ), Québec, Canada
- Centre de Recherche sur les Matériaux Avancés (CERMA), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
- Département de Génie des Mines, de la Métallurgie et des Matériaux, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Jean Ruel
- Mechanical Engineering, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | | | | | - Corinne A. Hoesli
- Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Bolívar-Monsalve EJ, Ceballos-González CF, Chávez-Madero C, de la Cruz-Rivas BG, Velásquez Marín S, Mora-Godínez S, Reyes-Cortés LM, Khademhosseini A, Weiss PS, Samandari M, Tamayol A, Alvarez MM, Trujillo-de Santiago G. One-Step Bioprinting of Multi-Channel Hydrogel Filaments Using Chaotic Advection: Fabrication of Pre-Vascularized Muscle-Like Tissues. Adv Healthc Mater 2022; 11:e2200448. [PMID: 35930168 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202200448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The biofabrication of living constructs containing hollow channels is critical for manufacturing thick tissues. However, current technologies are limited in their effectiveness in the fabrication of channels with diameters smaller than hundreds of micrometers. It is demonstrated that the co-extrusion of cell-laden hydrogels and sacrificial materials through printheads containing Kenics static mixing elements enables the continuous and one-step fabrication of thin hydrogel filaments (1 mm in diameter) containing dozens of hollow microchannels with widths as small as a single cell. Pre-vascularized skeletal muscle-like filaments are bioprinted by loading murine myoblasts (C2C12 cells) in gelatin methacryloyl - alginate hydrogels and using hydroxyethyl cellulose as a sacrificial material. Higher viability and metabolic activity are observed in filaments with hollow multi-channels than in solid constructs. The presence of hollow channels promotes the expression of Ki67 (a proliferation biomarker), mitigates the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha , and markedly enhances cell alignment (i.e., 82% of muscle myofibrils aligned (in ±10°) to the main direction of the microchannels after seven days of culture). The emergence of sarcomeric α-actin is verified through immunofluorescence and gene expression. Overall, this work presents an effective and practical tool for the fabrication of pre-vascularized engineered tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Carolina Chávez-Madero
- Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México.,Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica y Eléctrica, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México
| | - Brenda Guadalupe de la Cruz-Rivas
- Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México.,Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica y Eléctrica, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México
| | - Silvana Velásquez Marín
- Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México.,Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica y Eléctrica, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México
| | - Shirley Mora-Godínez
- Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México
| | | | - Ali Khademhosseini
- Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA
| | - Paul S Weiss
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Mohamadmahdi Samandari
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030, USA
| | - Ali Tamayol
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030, USA
| | - Mario Moisés Alvarez
- Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México.,Departamento de Bioingeniería, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México
| | - Grissel Trujillo-de Santiago
- Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México.,Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica y Eléctrica, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, 64849, México
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Brunel LG, Hull SM, Heilshorn SC. Engineered assistive materials for 3D bioprinting: support baths and sacrificial inks. Biofabrication 2022; 14:032001. [PMID: 35487196 PMCID: PMC10788121 DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ac6bbe] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a promising technique for spatially patterning cells and materials into constructs that mimic native tissues and organs. However, a trade-off exists between printability and biological function, where weak materials are typically more suited for 3D cell culture but exhibit poor shape fidelity when printed in air. Recently, a new class of assistive materials has emerged to overcome this limitation and enable fabrication of more complex, biologically relevant geometries, even when using soft materials as bioinks. These materials include support baths, which bioinks are printed into, and sacrificial inks, which are printed themselves and then later removed. Support baths are commonly yield-stress materials that provide physical confinement during the printing process to improve resolution and shape fidelity. Sacrificial inks have primarily been used to create void spaces and pattern perfusable networks, but they can also be combined directly with the bioink to change its mechanical properties for improved printability or increased porosity. Here, we outline the advantages of using such assistive materials in 3D bioprinting, define their material property requirements, and offer case study examples of how these materials are used in practice. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges and future opportunities in the development of assistive materials that will propel the bioprinting field forward toward creating full-scale, biomimetic tissues and organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia G Brunel
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Sarah M Hull
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Sarah C Heilshorn
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
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