4D bioprinting: assessment of the thermal-responsive of a smart bioink based on alginate/gelatine/PNIPAm

• Grant number: 19/10901-1
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Duration: July 06, 2020 - September 05, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Jorge Vicente Lopes da Silva
• Grantee: Jorge Vicente Lopes da Silva
• Visiting researcher: Marcos Antonio Sabino Gutiérrez
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB), Venezuela
• Host Institution: Centro de Pesquisas Renato Archer (CENPRA). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the scope of Bioengineering and Tissue Engineering, bioprinting emerged as a striking area based on the versatility of the 3D printing process. Within the development of biomaterials for this type of applications, hydrogels emerge as potential scaffolds because they are porous and formed by hydrophilic molecules, then capable of encapsulating cells, and because they can be arranged in a semi-solid and stable three-dimensional structure, giving possibilities to carry out processes of cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Thus, hydrogels must have characteristics of biocompatibility that allow to biomimetize the extracellular matrix: important for the viability of the cells. In this sense, two types of polymers can be highlighted as base materials of hydrogels: i) natural polymers or biopolymers such as collagen, gelatine (which can gel at low temperatures), hyaluronic acid and alginate stand out because they are hydrofilic and biocompatible; ii) Synthetic polymers such as poly (ethylene glycol), poly (caprolactone) and poly (lactic acid) may provide structural stability to the bioimposed biomaterial, supported by technologies such as FDM Biofabrication, electrospinning, or by bioprinting techniques. On the other hand, within synthetic polymers, there are some that exhibit intelligent behavior when submitted to external stimuli, such as PNIPAm, which undergoes phase change due to a temperature change (around 32-34°C), which is close to the body temperature. It is interesting, therefore, to be able to combine the water solubility of these polymers, their already proven biocompatibility (according to what the scientific literature reports), and their possible intelligent character, to generate formulations that can be vehicles of cellular systems. From these formulations, the development of an smart bioink to be processed by 3D / 4D bioprinting is justified and the smart bioink will be experimented in an extrusion additive manufacturing device located at the 3D Technologies Research Group in the Center for Information Technology Renato Archer (CTI) aiming at three-dimensional structuring. (AU)