Development of hybrid bioinks for 3D bioprinting applied to bone tissue engineering

• Grant number: 22/07967-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Biomedical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: João Henrique Lopes
• Grantee: Paula Cristina Gomes Fernandes
• Host Institution: Divisão de Ciências Fundamentais (IEF). Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA). Ministério da Defesa (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

As a promising strategy for bone tissue regeneration, tissue engineering has been used as a solution to the problems caused by accidents and degenerative diseases that affect thousands of people around the world. In the field of tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting has been increasingly highlighted due to the possibility of mimicking the natural cellular architecture by deposition and structuring of materials, molecules, and cells in a specific pattern generated by computer graphics. Bioinks, material used in bioprinting, must be produced in order to meet the mechanical and rheological requirements of the bioprocess and also provide a favorable environment for the loading of viable cells, i.e, enabling their development and proliferation. Among the most promising materials for the production of bioinks, hydrogels based on natural polymers stand out for their biocompatibility and the possibility of retaining biochemical evidence. Natural polymers, however, have limited mechanical properties and typically require structural reinforcement or blending with other polymers to meet application requirements. Sodium alginate is a natural polymer widely used in bioprinting due to its simple and fast gelation process, but it lacks biocompatible properties that favor cell affinity, adhesion and proliferation, in addition to low mechanical properties. On the other hand, silk fibroin is a natural polymer that has been gaining notoriety in bioprinting due to its excellent cellular affinity, but it has a delicate cross-linking process that requires studies and adaptations. In addition, the incorporation of bioactive glasses in bioink formulations provides an increase in the bioactivity of the material produced in addition to the possibility of acting as a crosslinking modulator. Based on this, this project proposes the study of hybrid systems based on natural polymers associated with mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles containing niobium to obtain bioinks that stimulate the formation of bone tissue. The polymers selected for the present study were alginate and silk fibroin, which were selected due to their differentiated biocompatibility properties.