Versatile design of hydrogel-based scaffolds with manipulated pore structure for hard-tissue regeneration

Abstract

In recent years, a variety of biomimetic hydrogel scaffolds have been used in tissue engineering because hydrogels can provide reasonable soft-tissue-like environmental conditions for various cell responses. However, although hydrogels can provide an outstanding biofunctional platform, their poor mechanical stability and low processability have been obstacles for their usage as biomedical scaffolds. To overcome this limitation, we propose a simple and versatile method using 3D printing supplemented with a low-temperature working plate and coating process to reinforce the mechanical properties and various cellular activities by accommodating the poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). To determine the efficiency of the method, we used two typical hydrogels (alginate and collagen), which were deposited in a multi-layer configuration, and PCL as a coating agent. The scaffolds were evaluated in terms of various physical and cellular activities (metabolic activity and osteogenic activity). Throughout the experiments, significant increases in the tensile modulus (>6-fold), cell proliferation (>1.2-fold), and calcium deposition (>1.3-fold) were observed for the hydrogel/PCL scaffolds compared to those for pure hydrogel. Based on the experimental results, we can confirm that the proposed hydrogel scaffold can be a highly promising biomedical scaffold for application in tissue regeneration.

Plasma Functionalization of Polycaprolactone Nanofibers Changes Protein Interactions with Cells, Resulting in Increased Cell Viability

“…Most extracellular proteins such as collagen (which is an abundant ECM protein) have a fibrous structure with typical dimensions in the nanometer or submicrometer scales (50 to 500 nm) . Therefore, the use of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications has attracted considerable attention due to the straightforward processing ability of a wide range of materials such as poly­(lactic acid) (PLA), poly­(lactic- co -glycolic acid) (PLGA), polycaprolactone (PCL), PLGA/PCL, and synthetic polymers combined with natural collagen, gelatin, alginate, silk, chitin, and chitosan . Additionally, electrospun NFs offer a tunable porosity and a dynamically changing structure over time as the polymeric NFs degrade, allowing the seeded cells to proliferate and produce their own ECM. − …”

Production and Characterization of an Integrated Multi-Layer 3D Printed PLGA/GelMA Scaffold Aimed for Bile Duct Restoration and Detection

“…An ideal hydrogel-based scaffold for usage in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine should have the following characteristics, such as sufficient mechanical properties, appropriate swelling ratio and biodegradation ratio in vivo , and good biocompatibility ( Kim et al, 2016 ). Therefore, we systematically studied the effect of adding GelMA on the performance of these scaffolds.…”

Low-temperature deposition manufacturing technology: a novel 3D printing method for bone scaffolds

“…For example, a novel composited PLGA-gelatin/chondroitin/hyaluronate scaffold was fabricated to keep the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and improved the regeneration of cartilage ( Fan et al, 2006 ). Kim et al (2016) proposed a 3D printing method with a low temperature working plate to fabricate scaffolds. They directly printed alginate and collagen layer by layer on a low-temperature (−20°C) cooling plate using a 250-µm printing nozzle and poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) as the coating agent.…”