Zhai Xinrang, Hu Miner, Song Linran, Pan Xihao, Lou Yanbo, Zhang Xianzhu, Dong Wei, Wei Wei
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210094, China; Center for Regeneration and Aging Medicine, International Institutes of Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, International School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu, Zhejiang 322000, China.
Department of Cardiology, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 May;310(Pt 1):143248. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.143248. Epub 2025 Apr 16.
Light-based 3D bioprinting is a widely applied technology to meet the requirement of complex geometry in the biomedical field. However, it is still a challenge that the existence of excessive free radical reactions impairs the fidelity of pre-designed hydrogel patterns when using biomacromolecule based soft bioinks. Herein, we find silk fibroin (SF), a typical natural biological macromolecule, can be introduced into the classic bioinks (GelMA and PEGDA) for high-precision 3D printing. The convenient approach significantly improves the printing resolution and fidelity, and holds satisfactory biocompatibility of the printed hydrogels. Moreover, SF is able to strengthen the mechanical property of printed hydrogel through β-sheets formation after alcohol treatment. We also exhibit the mechanism that SF for improving 3D printing precision could be free radical absorption by tyrosine in SF chains and a little photo absorption at the range of 365-405 nm. We demonstrate that molecules containing phenolic hydroxyl groups are able to enhance the precision of 3D printing based on free radical photo-polymerization. This study supports a facile strategy to promote the printability and operability for 3D bioprinting in tissue engineering.
基于光的3D生物打印是一种广泛应用的技术，以满足生物医学领域对复杂几何形状的要求。然而，当使用基于生物大分子的软生物墨水时，过量自由基反应的存在会损害预先设计的水凝胶图案的保真度，这仍然是一个挑战。在此，我们发现丝素蛋白（SF），一种典型的天然生物大分子，可以被引入到经典生物墨水（GelMA和PEGDA）中用于高精度3D打印。这种简便的方法显著提高了打印分辨率和保真度，并且使打印的水凝胶具有令人满意的生物相容性。此外，经过酒精处理后，SF能够通过形成β-折叠来增强打印水凝胶的机械性能。我们还展示了SF提高3D打印精度的机制可能是SF链中酪氨酸对自由基的吸收以及在365-405nm范围内的少量光吸收。我们证明含有酚羟基的分子能够提高基于自由基光聚合的3D打印精度。这项研究支持了一种简便的策略，以促进组织工程中3D生物打印的可打印性和可操作性。
