Self-crosslinking hyaluronic acid-carboxymethylcellulose hydrogel enhances multilayered 3D-printed construct shape integrity and mechanical stability for soft tissue engineering

• Published in: Biofabrication Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 045026
• Main Authors: Janarthanan, Gopinathan, Shin, Hyun Soo, Kim, In-Gul, Ji, Pyung, Chung, Eun-Jae, Lee, Chibum, Noh, Insup
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 01.10.2020
• Subjects: 3D bioprinting; Animals; bioinks; Bioprinting; carboxymethylcellulose; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium; Hyaluronic Acid; Hydrogels; Mice; Printing, Three-Dimensional; Tissue Engineering
• ISSN: 1758-5082; 1758-5090
• DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/aba2f7

One of the primary challenges in extrusion-based 3D bioprinting is the ability to print self-supported multilayered constructs with biocompatible hydrogels. The bioinks should have sufficient post-printing mechanical stability for soft tissue and organ regeneration. Here, we report on the synthesis, characterization and 3D printability of hyaluronic acid (HA)-carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) hydrogels cross-linked through N-acyl-hydrazone bonding. The hydrogel's hydrolytic stability was acquired by the effects of both the prevention of the oxidation of the six-membered rings of HA, and the stabilization of acyl-hydrazone bonds. The shear-thinning and self-healing properties of the hydrogel allowed us to print different 3D constructs (lattice, cubic and tube) of up to 50 layers with superior precision and high post-printing stability without support materials or post-processing depending on their compositions (H7:C3, H5:C5 and H3:C7). Morphological analyses of different zones of the 3D-printed constructs were undertaken for verification of the interconnection of pores. Texture profile analysis (TPA) (hardness (strength), elastic recovery, etc) and cyclic compression studies of the 3D-printed constructs demonstrated exceptional elastic properties and fast recovery after 50% strain, respectively, which have been attributed to the addition of CMC into HA. A model drug quercetin was released in a sustained manner from hydrogels and 3D constructs. In vitro cytotoxicity studies confirmed the excellent cyto-compatibility of these gels. In vivo mice studies prove that these biocompatible hydrogels enhance angiogenesis. The results indicate that controlling the key properties (e.g. self-crosslinking capacity, composition) can lead to the generation of multilayered constructs from 3D-bioprintable HA-CMC hydrogels capable of being leveraged for soft tissue engineering applications.