Development of bioactive short fiber-reinforced printable hydrogels with tunable mechanical and osteogenic properties for bone repair

J Mater Chem B. 2024 Mar 13;12(11):2818-2830. doi: 10.1039/d3tb02924g.

Abstract

Personalized bone-regenerative materials have attracted substantial interest in recent years. Modern clinical settings demand the use of engineered materials incorporating patient-derived cells, cytokines, antibodies, and biomarkers to enhance the process of regeneration. In this work, we formulated short microfiber-reinforced hydrogels with platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) to engineer implantable multi-material core-shell bone grafts. By employing 3D bioprinting technology, we fabricated a core-shell bone graft from a hybrid composite hydroxyapatite-coated poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fiber-reinforced methacryolyl gelatin (GelMA)/alginate hydrogel. The overall concept involves 3D bioprinting of long bone mimic microstructures that resemble a core-shell cancellous-cortical structure, with a stiffer shell and a softer core with our engineered biomaterial. We observed a significantly enhanced stiffness in the hydrogel scaffold incorporated with hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated PLA microfibers compared to the pristine hydrogel construct. Furthermore, HA non-coated PLA microfibers were mixed with PRF and GelMA/alginate hydrogel to introduce a slow release of growth factors which can further enhance cell maturation and differentiation. These patient-specific bone grafts deliver cytokines and growth factors with distinct spatiotemporal release profiles to enhance tissue regeneration. The biocompatible and bio-responsive bone mimetic core-shell multi-material structures enhance osteogenesis and can be customized to have materials at a specific location, geometry, and material combination.

MeSH terms

  • Alginates / chemistry
  • Cytokines
  • Durapatite
  • Gelatin / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Hydrogels* / chemistry
  • Osteogenesis*
  • Polyesters

Substances

  • Hydrogels
  • Durapatite
  • Gelatin
  • Alginates
  • Cytokines
  • Polyesters