Printing Structurally Anisotropic Biocompatible Fibrillar Hydrogel for Guided Cell Alignment.

ABSTRACT: Many fibrous biological tissues exhibit structural anisotropy due to the alignment of fibers in the extracellular matrix. To study the impact of such anisotropy on cell proliferation, orientation, and mobility, it is important to recapitulate and achieve control over the structure of man-made hydrogel scaffolds for cell culture. Here, we report a chemically crosslinked fibrous hydrogel due to the reaction between aldehyde-modified cellulose nanofibers and gelatin. We explored two ways to induce structural anisotropy in this gel by extruding the hydrogel precursor through two different printheads. The cellulose nanofibers in the hydrogel ink underwent shear-induced alignment during extrusion and retained it in the chemically crosslinked hydrogel. The degree of anisotropy was controlled by t

SUBMITTER: Chen Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9689575 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature