An Innovative Biofunctional Composite Hydrogel with Enhanced Printability, Rheological Properties, and Structural Integrity for Cell Scaffold Applications

Taufik Abdullah Mappa; Chung-Ming Liu; Chung-Chih Tseng; Muhammad Ruslin; Jui-Hung Cheng; Wen-Chien Lan; Bai-Hung Huang; Yung-Chieh Cho; Chia-Chien Hsieh; Hsin-Hui Kuo; Chen-Han Tsou; Yung-Kang Shen

doi:10.3390/polym15153223

An Innovative Biofunctional Composite Hydrogel with Enhanced Printability, Rheological Properties, and Structural Integrity for Cell Scaffold Applications

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Jul 28;15(15):3223. doi: 10.3390/polym15153223.

Authors

Taufik Abdullah Mappa^{1

2

3}, Chung-Ming Liu⁴, Chung-Chih Tseng⁵, Muhammad Ruslin³, Jui-Hung Cheng⁶, Wen-Chien Lan⁷, Bai-Hung Huang⁸, Yung-Chieh Cho¹, Chia-Chien Hsieh², Hsin-Hui Kuo⁹, Chen-Han Tsou¹⁰, Yung-Kang Shen²

Affiliations

¹ School of Dentistry, College of Oral Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
² School of Dental Technology, College of Oral Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Hasanuddin University, Makassar 90245, Indonesia.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Medical Science and Technology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Mold and Die Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Oral Hygiene Care, Ching Kuo Institute of Management and Health, Keelung 203, Taiwan.
⁸ Graduate Institute of Dental Science, College of Dentistry, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
⁹ Research Center for Biomedical Devices and Prototyping Production, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Dentistry, Zuoying Branch of Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to manipulate various biomaterials to find potential hydrogel formulations through three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting fabrication for tissue repair, reconstruction, or regeneration. The hydrogels were prepared using sodium alginate and gelatin combined with different concentrations of Pluronic F127 (6% (3 g), 8% (4 g), and 10% (5 g)) and were marked as AGF-6%, AGF-8%, and AGF-10%, respectively. The properties of the hydrogels were investigated using a contact angle goniometer, rheometer, and 3D bioprinter. In addition, the osteoblast-like cell line (MG-63) was used to evaluate the cell viability including hydrogels before and after 3D bioprinting. It was found that the ratio of contact angle was lowest at AGF-6%, and the rheological results were higher for all samples of AGF-6%, AGF-8%, and AGF-10% compared with the control sample. The printability indicated that the AGF-6% hydrogel possessed great potential in creating a cell scaffold with shape integrity. Moreover, the live/dead assay also presented the highest numbers of live cells before printing compared with after printing. However, the number of live cells on day 7 was higher than on day 1 before and after printing (** p < 0.01). Therefore, the combination of AGF-6% could be developed as a biofunctional hydrogel formulation for potential tissue regeneration applications.

Keywords: biopolymer; cell scaffold; hydrogels; printability; tissue regeneration.

Grants and funding

KAFGH-ZY-A-110017/Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital