Photocurable chitosan as bioink for cellularized therapies towards personalized scaffold architecture

Tonda-Turo, Chiara;Carmagnola Irene;Chiappone Annalisa;Feng, Zhaoxuan;Ciardelli, Gianluca;Hakkarainen, Minna;Sangermano Marco

2020-01-01

---

Abstract

Recent progresses in tissue engineering are directed towards the development of technologies able to provide personalized scaffolds recreating the defect shape in a patient specific manner. To achieve this ambitious goal, 3D bioprinting can be combined with a suitable bioink, able to create a physiological milieu for cell growth. In this work, a novel chitosan-based hydrogel was developed combining photocrosslinking and thermo-sensitive properties. Commercial chitosan (CS) was first methacrylated and then mixed with β-glycerol phosphate salt (β-GP) to impart a thermally induced phase transition. The absence of cytotoxic degradation products and the excellent biocompatibility of the developed hydrogel was confirmed through in vitro tests using different cell lines (NIH/3T3, Saos-2, SH-SY5Y). Cellularized 3D structures were obtained though 3D bioprinting technologies confirming the processability of the developed hydrogels and its unique biological properties.