Marsel Khaliullin

Master student, FAU Physics Department

Pre-crosslinked alginate based bioinks with proteins

 

Supervisor (at the Institute of Biomaterials): Jonas Hazur, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Supervisor (at the Departmen of Physics): Prof. Ben Fabry

Biomaterial studies lie at the forefront of tissue engineering. Biofabrication using hydrogels is one of the key technologies gaining interest for developing tissue-like 3D structures for tissue engineering. The properties of the printed constructs can be adjusted by suitable crosslinking strategies before and right after the biomaterial has extruded out of the nozzle [1].
Several hydrogels based on natural polymers such as alginate, gelatine and collagen have been demonstrated to be suitable cell carriers in tissue-engineered structures. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the animal kingdom, thus being a very good candidate to mimic the natural tissue habitat. Imperfect mechanical properties of pure collagen scaffolds are to be overcome. On the other hand, alginate is suitable for 3D bioprinting as divalent cations, such as calcium, ionically cross-link with alginate and cause it to gelate, leading to improved properties. The goal of this research project is to manufacture and characterize a new family of pre-crosslinked composite alginate-protein bioinks with tailored crosslinking and suitability for biofabrication. The mechanical properties and degradation behaviour of the constructs will be measured.

[1] Gungor-Ozkerim PS , Inci I , Zhang YS , Khademhosseini A , Dokmeci MR . Bioinks for 3D bioprinting: an overview. Biomater Sci. 2018;6(5):915‐946. doi:10.1039/c7bm00765e