The new paper about ongoing research of 3D bioprinting
International Journal of Molecular Sciences has published the new paper about a part of an ongoing project on tissue engineering that is being carried out in the Department of Biomaterials and Bioanalogous Systems of the IMC. The new project is focused on 3D bioprinting, a novel approach for obtaining various artificial body tissues.
In the field of 3D bioprinting, the main challenge is for researchers to find the proper materials for those constructs, which are not harmful to cells, maintain mechanical stability, and support stem cells to grow and proliferate. To meet these criteria, researchers from the IMC focused on the development of methods to modify alginate, a material widely used in 3D printing, due to its ability to create mechanically-stable 3D jelly-like networks called hydrogels.
Scientists described the pros and cons of different types of coupling reactions, including the direct coupling of different peptide molecules to alginate, as well as indirect two-step modification. „The most perspective approach according to our results was firstly the modification of alginate with the small molecule bearing functionality for the Ligand-Accelerated Cu-Catalyzed Azide−Alkyne Cycloaddition reaction, and secondly a very specific reaction between azide groups on the peptide and alkyne moieties on alginate. This two-step approach showed the highest effectivity of both reaction steps, therefore minimizing losses of the peptide,“ says Dr. Anna Golunova, the main author of the publication, from the Department of Biomaterials and Bioanalogous Systems.
„As the final step of the research, with help of our collaborators from the Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University in Brno, we performed preliminary experiments with highly sensitive human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and showed that they were able to adhere and spread on the surface of the modified alginate in comparison with non-modified one,“ desribes Dr. Vladimír Proks, Head of the Department of Biomaterials and Bioanalogous Systems, and adds: „It was a good sign for us that we can continue the research in this direction.“
