Obtaining synthetic tendons through 3D bioprinting, electrospinning and microfluidics.

• Grant number: 22/10005-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Hernandes Faustino de Carvalho
• Grantee: Fabiana Cunha Giora
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The tendon is one of the most structurally complex tissues and when affected by diseases or injuries, it is difficult to regenerate and replace. In order to overcome these needs, tissue engineering has some resources that have been studied over the years, such as 3D bioprinting, electrospinning and microfluidics. 3D bioprinting is one of the technologies on the rise at the moment, it has great versatility and feasibility in vertical printing. While electrospinning has high resolution at the nanoscale, efficient nutrient/oxygen exchange and excellent cell-to-cell interaction. Microfluidics, on the other hand, can offer good encapsulation properties of cells/biomolecules and resembles the in vivo environment, overcoming the limitations of traditional culture techniques. In this way, the union of the three techniques for the construction of an artificial tendon is quite relevant, as they can be used in a complementary way to each other. In addition, this study will be able to validate existing information about techniques in tendon construction, as well as bring new information about technologies and tissue regeneration to the scientific community.