Composite hydrogels based in natural gums / clay: new inks for 3D Printing aiming tissue engineering applications

• Grant number: 19/16303-9
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: May 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Mayté Paredes Zaldivar
• Grantee: Mayté Paredes Zaldivar
• Company: TechMiP Análises e Soluções Inteligentes Ltda
• CNAE: Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais ; Atividades de serviços de complementação diagnóstica e terapêutica
• Associated researchers: Andréia Bagliotti Meneguin ; Hernane da Silva Barud ; Mônica Rosas da Costa Iemma
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/12712-9 - Composite hydrogels based in natural gums/clay: new inks for 3D printing aiming tissue engineering applications, BP.TT; 20/12250-5 - Composite hydrogels based in natural gums/clay: new inks for 3D printing aiming Tissue Engineering applications, BP.PIPE

Abstract

Nowadays most part of the tests for new drugs and cosmetics are performed in animals. For this reason, approximately more than 100 million animals are slaughtered per year in the world. However, these tests are questioned from the ethical point of view, and they can be expensive and not efficient. A potential alternative method to animal experimentation is the additive manufacturing or 3D bioprinting, which possibilities the printing of bioidentical tissues and organs with the required structural and mechanical properties and biological complexity. 3D bioprinting is an emerging technology that uses inks/bioinks (biomaterials, cells and support components) and offers great potential to be applied in tissue engineering. The bioink is an important component of the growing 3D biological printing market. It is expected a growing of $ 4.1 billion until 2026, been a substantial growing as printing technology and all its components improvement. Hydrogels are the most commonly used inks. In addition, they are particularly attractive because of their adjustable properties and ability to reproduce the cellular microenvironment. Therefore, the objective of this PIPE phase 1 project is to develop new inks, derivate from natural gums (gellan and karaia gum) and palygorskite clay, with the appropriate physicochemical and biological properties for 3D printing of different structures. After, in the phase 2, cells and signaling molecules will be added to the formulations to attain more specific bioinks, used in the creation of bioidentical tissues and organs, aiming their use in the field of tissue engineering applied to human health care. During the obtainment of the formulations some parameters will be varied such as: polymers and clay contents, viscosity, concentration of ionic crosslinker and crosslinking time. The physicochemical and biological properties of both formulations and 3D printed structures will be studied. It is expected to obtain some inks formulations that allow the 3D printing of tissues and organs with the desired architecture, such as skin tissues, cartilages, scaffolds and mini-organs. The focus of these structures is to be applied as alternative method to animal experimentation in the tests of new drugs and cosmetics, and in the future, as a transplantation therapy in humans. (AU)