Preparation of Keratin-Based Bioink for 3D Bioprinting Applications
摘要
Keratin, a naturally derived biopolymer, exhibits excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, presenting potential application prospect in tissue engineering by 3D printing. This study developed a novel bioink by incorporating glycidyl methacrylate-modified keratin (Ker-GMA) with the methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HAMA) and nanoclay, and a novel 3D printing keratin-based scaffold (Ker-GMA/HAMA scaffolds) was prepared using the bioink. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the successful synthesis Ker-GMA and HAMA and the degree of substitution of Ker-GMA and HAMA were quantified as 27.8 ± 1.2% and 43.4 ± 1.4% by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). Rheological tests demonstrated that the keratin-based bioink with 10wt% nanoclay addition is suitable for printing application and present excellent optical crosslinking property. In vitro cell culture experiments confirmed the excellent biocompatibility of the Ker-GMA/HAMA scaffolds. The relative growth rate (RGR) of the L929 fibroblasts on the scaffold reached 96% at 1 day, and further increased to 127% by day 5, which was significantly higher than that in the control group. These results indicate that the Ker-GMA/HAMA scaffold is a promising candidate for tissue regeneration.