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Review
. 2022 Jan 15;12(1):141.
doi: 10.3390/biom12010141.

Smart Bioinks for the Printing of Human Tissue Models

Affiliations
Review

Smart Bioinks for the Printing of Human Tissue Models

Zeina Maan et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

3D bioprinting has tremendous potential to revolutionize the field of regenerative medicine by automating the process of tissue engineering. A significant number of new and advanced bioprinting technologies have been developed in recent years, enabling the generation of increasingly accurate models of human tissues both in the healthy and diseased state. Accordingly, this technology has generated a demand for smart bioinks that can enable the rapid and efficient generation of human bioprinted tissues that accurately recapitulate the properties of the same tissue found in vivo. Here, we define smart bioinks as those that provide controlled release of factors in response to stimuli or combine multiple materials to yield novel properties for the bioprinting of human tissues. This perspective piece reviews the existing literature and examines the potential for the incorporation of micro and nanotechnologies into bioinks to enhance their properties. It also discusses avenues for future work in this cutting-edge field.

Keywords: 3D bioprinting; biomaterials; controlled release; drug delivery; small molecules; stem cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

Stephanie Willerth is the C.E.O. and co-founder of Axolotl Biosciences–a company focused on selling novel bioinks.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic presentation of 3D bioprinting with composite bioinks. This image is reprinted under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license from [41].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representation of a smart multifunctional drug-loaded nanoparticle, decorated with various moieties for targeting, imaging and stealth properties. This image is reprinted under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license from [53].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Demonstration of simultaneously incorporating both human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and GO (graphene oxide)-adsorbed growth factor TGFβ3 into a 3D scaffold, where GO-adsorbed TGFβ3 enhanced chondrogenic differentiation of hMSCs and cartilage-tissue synthesis This image is reprinted under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license from [67].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation of the procedure of obtaining mPEG-silane on LPMS_HRP through PEGylation method. This image is reprinted under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license from [85].

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