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Development of novel iron(III) crosslinked bioinks comprising carboxymethyl cellulose, xanthan gum, and hyaluronic acid for soft tissue engineering applications.

Hien-Phuong LeKamrul HassanMahnaz RamezanpourJonathan A CampbellTran Thanh TungSarah VreugdeDusan Losic
Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. B (2024)
The advent of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting offers a feasible approach to construct complex structures for soft tissue regeneration. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) has been emerging as a very promising biomaterial for 3D bioprinting. However, due to the inability to maintain the post-printed stability, CMC needs to be physically blended and/or chemically crosslinked with other polymers. In this context, this study presents the combination of CMC with xanthan gum (XG) and hyaluronic acid (HA) to formulate a multicomponent bioink, leveraging the printability of CMC and XG, as well as the cellular support properties of HA. The ionic crosslinking of printed constructs with iron(III) via the metal-ion coordination between ferric cations and carboxylate groups of the three polymers was introduced to induce improved mechanical strength and long-term stability. Moreover, immortalized human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT) and human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) encapsulated within iron-crosslinked printed hydrogels exhibited excellent cell viability (more than 95%) and preserved morphology. Overall, the presented study highlights that the combination of these three biopolymers and the ionic crosslinking with ferric ions is a valuable strategy to be considered for the development of new and advanced hydrogel-based bioinks for soft tissue engineering applications.
Keyphrases
  • hyaluronic acid
  • tissue engineering
  • ionic liquid
  • endothelial cells
  • iron deficiency
  • stem cells
  • induced pluripotent stem cells
  • pluripotent stem cells
  • aqueous solution
  • drug delivery
  • water soluble