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Review
. 2021 Jul 16;14(14):3977.
doi: 10.3390/ma14143977.

Recent Advancements in 3D Printing of Polysaccharide Hydrogels in Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Jakob Naranda  1 , Matej Bračič  2 , Matjaž Vogrin  1   3 , Uroš Maver  4   5
Affiliations
Review

Recent Advancements in 3D Printing of Polysaccharide Hydrogels in Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Jakob Naranda et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

The application of hydrogels coupled with 3-dimensional (3D) printing technologies represents a modern concept in scaffold development in cartilage tissue engineering (CTE). Hydrogels based on natural biomaterials are extensively used for this purpose. This is mainly due to their excellent biocompatibility, inherent bioactivity, and special microstructure that supports tissue regeneration. The use of natural biomaterials, especially polysaccharides and proteins, represents an attractive strategy towards scaffold formation as they mimic the structure of extracellular matrix (ECM) and guide cell growth, proliferation, and phenotype preservation. Polysaccharide-based hydrogels, such as alginate, agarose, chitosan, cellulose, hyaluronan, and dextran, are distinctive scaffold materials with advantageous properties, low cytotoxicity, and tunable functionality. These superior properties can be further complemented with various proteins (e.g., collagen, gelatin, fibroin), forming novel base formulations termed "proteo-saccharides" to improve the scaffold's physiological signaling and mechanical strength. This review highlights the significance of 3D bioprinted scaffolds of natural-based hydrogels used in CTE. Further, the printability and bioink formation of the proteo-saccharides-based hydrogels have also been discussed, including the possible clinical translation of such materials.

Keywords: 3D (bio)printing; cartilage tissue engineering; hydrogels; polysaccharides; proteins; proteo-saccharides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of publications in Pubmed (search performed in April 2021): (a) keywords: “polysaccharides hydrogels” (b) keywords: “cartilage tissue engineering, hydrogel, polysaccharide, 3D printing”.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The schematic overview of the proteo-saccharides combination, their origin, and bioink preparation for hydrogel formation in CTE.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The 3D printed structures from nanocellulose-reinforced alginate hydrogels: (A) Small grid squeezed with tweezers, (B) grid recovery after squeezing, (C) human ear, (D) side view of a sheep meniscus and (E) top view of a sheep meniscus [66].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Agarose-based scaffold: (a) Adjustable features of agarose can result in flexible characteristics, (b) the molecular structure of agarose and schematic of its gelling process [67].
Figure 5
Figure 5
SEM (A,B) and fluorescence microscopy image (B) of a chitosan–alginate scaffold (A) and chondrocyte cells grown on it (B,C) [84].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Development of self-standing and lightweight 3D bioscaffolds with microporous and interconnect microporous morphology from bicomponent ink containing NFC and CMC [102], Further permission related to the material excerpted should be directed to the ACS (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsabm.9b01099 (accessed on 8 May 2021)).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Bio-inspired hydrogel composed of hyaluronic acid and alginate as a potential bioink for 3D bioprinting of articular cartilage engineering constructs [78].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Injectable dextran-based hydrogels crosslinked by metal-free click chemistry [110].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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