TY - THES A1 - Jüngst, Tomasz T1 - Establishing and Improving Methods for Biofabrication T1 - Etablierung und Verbesserung von Methoden für die Biofabrikation N2 - Die Biofabrikation ist ein junges und sehr dynamisches Forschungsgebiet mit viel Potential. Dieses Potential spiegelt sich unter anderem in den ambitionierten Zielen wieder, die man sich hier gesetzt hat. Wissenschaftler in diesem Gebiet wollen eines Tages beispielsweise funktionale menschliche Gewebe nachbilden, die aus patienteneigenen Zellen bestehen. Diese Gewebe sollen entweder für die Testung neuer Arzneimittel und Therapien oder sogar als Implantate einsetzt werden. Der Schlüssel zum Erfolg soll hier die Verwendung automatisierter Prozesse in Verbindung mit innovativen Materialien sein, die es ermöglichen, die Hierarchie und Funktion des zu ersetzenden natürlichen Gewebes nachbilden. Obwohl in den letzten Jahren große Fortschritte gemacht worden sind, gibt es immer noch Hürden, die überwunden werden müssen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es deshalb, die derzeit eingeschränkte Auswahl kompatibler Materialien für die Biofabrikation zu erweitern und bereits etablierte Verfahren wie den extrusionsbasierten Biodruck noch besser verstehen zu lernen. Auch neue Verfahren, wie etwa das Melt Electrospinning Writing (MEW) sollten etabliert werden. In Kapitel 3 dieser Arbeit wurde das MEW dazu verwendet, tubuläre Strukturen zu fertigen, die sich aus Polymerfasern mit einem durchschnittlichen Durchmesser von nur etwa 12 μm zusammensetzen. Die mit Hilfe von Druckluft in Verbindung mit einer hohen elektrischen Spannung aus einer Nadelspitze austretende Polymerschmelze wurde hierbei auf zylinderförmigen Kollektoren mit Durchmessern zwischen 0.5 und 4.8mm gesammelt. Auf diese Weise wurden röhrenförmige Faserkonstrukte generiert. Das Hauptaugenmerk lag auf dem Einfluss des Durchmessers, der Rotations- und Translationsbewegung des Kollektors auf die Morphologie der Faserkonstrukte. Hierzu wurden die Fasern erst auf unbewegten Kollektoren mit unterschiedlichen Durchmessern gesammelt und die entstehenden Muster analysiert. Es zeigte sich, dass das Fasermuster mit zunehmendem Durchmesser des Kollektors mehr den symmetrischen Konstrukten mit runder Grundfläche glich, die auch von flachen Kollektoren bekannt sind. Je kleiner der Kollektordurchmesser wurde, desto ovaler wurde die Grundfläche der Muster, was den Einfluss der Krümmung deutlich machte. In weiteren Experimenten wurden die zylindrischen Kollektoren mit Geschwindigkeiten von 4,2 bis 42 Umdrehungen pro Minute um ihre Längsachse gedreht. Die von flachen Kollektoren bekannten Übergänge der Fasermorphologie konnten auch für runde Kollektoren bestätigt werden. So änderte sich die Morphologie mit zunehmender Geschwindigkeit der Oberfläche von einer achterförmigen Gestalt über eine sinusförmige Ausrichtung der Fasern hin zu einer geraden Linie. Der Einfluss des Kollektordurchmessers wurde auch hier deutlich, da sich etwa die Amplitude der bei Rotationsgeschwindigkeiten im Bereich sinusförmiger Ausrichtung abgelegten Fasern mit abnehmendem Radius erhöhte. Im nächsten Schritt wurde neben der Rotation der Kollektoren auch eine Translation induziert. Durch geeignete Kombination von Rotation und Translation konnten Konstrukte mit definiertem Wickelwinkel hergestellt werden. Es zeigte sich, dass die Wiedergabe des vorher kalkulierten Winkels unter Verwendung von Oberflächengeschwindigkeiten, die nahe am Übergang zur geraden Faserausrichtung waren, am besten war. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit konnten Winkel zwischen 5 und 60° mit hoher Präzision wiedergegeben werden. Im Falle von sich wiederholenden Mustern konnte auch in Bezug auf die Stapelbarkeit der Fasern aufeinander eine hohe Präzision erreicht werden. Kapitel 4 dieser Arbeit befasste sich mit dem extrusionsbasierten 3D-Druck. Das etabliere Verfahren wurde auf eine bisher wenig untersuchte Materialzusammensetzung von Nanopartikeln-beladenen Hydrogeltinten ausgeweitet. Die Tinte bestand aus einer Kombination von funktionalisierten Polyglyzidolen und einer unmodifizierten langkettingen Hyaluronsäure. Dieser wurden mesoporöse Silika-Nanopartikel mit unterschiedlicher Ladung zugesetzt und deren Freisetzung aus gedruckten Konstrukten mit einstellbarer Geometrien untersucht. Da die Hyaluronsäure selbst negativ geladen ist, wurde erwartet und auch gezeigt, dass aminofunktionalisierte Partikel mit positiver Ladung langsamer freigesetzt werden als carboxylfunktionalisierte Partikel mit negativer Ladung. Interessanterweise änderten die Partikel nicht die rheologischen Eigenschaften der Tinte und es konnten Hydrogele, die mit positiv geladenen Partikeln beladen waren, bei den gleichen Druckparametern verdruckt werden, wie Hydrogele, die mit negativ geladenen Partikeln beladen waren. Die guten Druckeigenschaften der Tinten ermöglichten die präzise Fertigung von Konstrukten mit einer Größe von 12x12x3mm^3, also von Konstrukten mit bis zu 16 aufeinanderfolgenden Lagen. Die Strangdurchmesser betrugen hierbei 627±31μm und die Verteilung der Partikel innerhalb der Stränge war sehr homogen. Zudem konnten auch Strukturen gedruckt werden, bei denen beide Tintenarten, mit positiven und mit negativen Partikeln beladene Hydrogele, in einem Konstrukt kombiniert wurden. Hierbei zeigte sich, dass die Freisetzung der Partikel, die über 6 Wochen hinweg untersucht wurde, auch stark von der Geometrie der zwei-Komponenten-Konstrukte abhing. Insbesondere die Auswirkung des direkten Kontakts zwischen den Komponenten innerhalb eines Konstruktes war hier sehr deutlich. Wurden die Stränge über Kreuz aufeinander abgelegt und hatten direkten Kontakt an den Kreuzungspunkten, konnte beobachtet werden, dass die positiv geladenen Partikel aus ihrem System in das mit den negativ geladenen Partikeln wanderten. Wurden die Stränge ohne direkten Kontakt parallel nebeneinander abgelegt, wurden die positiv geladenen Partikel in umgebendes Medium freigesetzt, konnten aber selbst nach 6 Wochen nicht in den Strängen mit den negativ geladenen Partikeln nachgewiesen werden. Dies verdeutlicht, dass Geometrie und Ladung der Partikel einen Einfluss auf die Freisetzung der Partikel hatten und sich die Freisetzung der Partikel durch eine geschickte Kombination beider Parameter steuern lässt. In Kapitel 5 dieser Arbeit wurde eine neue Materialklasse als Biotinte für den extrusionsbasierten Biodruck untersucht. Bei dem Material handelte es sich um Hydrogele auf Basis rekombinanter Spinnenseidenproteine. Diese konnten ab einer Proteinkonzentration von 3 %Gew./Vol. ohne die Verwendung von Verdickungsmittel oder anderen Additiven und auch ohne eine nachträgliche Vernetzung verdruckt werden. Sowohl Hydrogele auf Basis des rekombinanten Proteins eADF4(C16) als auch eine mit einer RGD-Sequenz versehene Modifikation (eADF4(C16)-RGD) konnten mit einer hohen Formtreue verdruckt werden. Die RGD-Sequenz zeigte einen positiven Effekt auf das Anhaften von humanen Fibroblasten, die auf gedruckte Konstrukte ausgesät wurden. Zudem konnten mit Hilfe der Hydrogele auch zellbeladene Konstrukte gefertigt werden. Hierzu wurden die Hydrogele mit einer Zellsuspension so vermengt, dass eine finale Konzentration von 1,2 Millionen Zellen/ml erreicht wurde. Die beladenen Gele wurden verdruckt und es konnte eine Überlebensrate von 70,1±7,6% nachgewiesen werden. Das in diesem Kapitel etablierte Materialsystem ermöglichte zum ersten Mal das Verdrucken lebender Zellen in einer neuen Klasse von Tinten, die weder die Beimengung von Verdickungsmittel noch einen zusätzlichen Nachhärtungsschritt für die Herstellung zellbeladener stabiler Konstrukte benötigt. N2 - Biofabrication is an advancing new research field that might, one day, lead to complex products like tissue replacements or tissue analogues for drug testing. Although great progress was made during the last years, there are still major hurdles like new types of materials and advanced processing techniques. The main focus of this thesis was to help overcoming this hurdles by challenging and improving existing fabrication processes like extrusion-based bioprinting but also by developing new techniques. Furthermore, this thesis assisted in designing and processing materials from novel building blocks like recombinant spider silk proteins or inks loaded with charged nanoparticles. A novel 3D printing technique called Melt Electrospinning Writing (MEW) was used in Chapter 3 to create tubular constructs from thin polymer fibers (roughly 12 μm in diameter) by collecting the fibers onto rotating and translating cylinders. The main focus was put on the influence of the collector diameter and its rotation and translation on the morphology of the constructs generated by this approach. In a first step, the collector was not moving and the pattern generated by these settings was analyzed. It could be shown that the diameter of the stationary collectors had a big impact on the morphology of the constructs. The bigger the diameter of the mandrel (smallest collector diameters 0.5 mm, biggest 4.8 mm) got, the more the shape of the generated footprint converged into a circular one known from flat collectors. In a second set of experiments the mandrels were only rotated. Increasing the rotational velocity from 4.2 to 42.0 rpm transformed the morphology of the constructs from a figure-of-eight pattern to a sinusoidal and ultimately to a straight fiber morphology. It was possible to prove that the transformation of the pattern was comparable to what was known from increasing the speed using flat collectors and that at a critical speed, the so called critical translation speed, straight fibers would appear that were precisely stacking on top of each other. By combining rotation and translation of the mandrel, it was possible to print tubular constructs with defined winding angles. Using collections speeds close to the critical translation speed enabled higher control of fiber positioning and it was possible to generate precisely stacked constructs with winding angles between 5 and 60°. In Chapter 4 a different approach was followed. It was based on extrusion-based bioprinting in combination with a hydrogel ink system. The ink was loaded with nanoparticles and the nanoparticle release was analyzed. In other words, two systems, a printable polyglycidol/hyaluronic acid ink and mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN), were combined to analyze charge driven release mechanism that could be fine-tuned using bioprinting. Thorough rheological evaluations proved that the charged nanoparticles, both negatively charged MSN-COOH and positively charged MSN-NH2, did not alter the shear thinning properties of the ink that revealed a negative base charge due to hyaluronic acid as one of its main components. Furthermore, it could be shown that the particles did also not have a negative effect on the recovery properties of the material after exposure to high shear. During printing, the observations made via rheological testing were supported by the fact that all materials could be printed at the same settings of the bioprinter. Using theses inks, it was possible to make constructs as big as 12x12x3 mm3 composed of 16 layers. The fiber diameters produced were about 627±31 μm and two-component constructs could be realized utilizing the two hydrogel print heads of the printer to fabricate one hybrid construct. The particle distribution within those constructs was homogeneous, both from a microscopic and a macroscopic point of view. Particle release from printed constructs was tracked over 6 weeks and revealed that the print geometry had an influence on the particle release. Printed in a geometry with direct contact between the strands containing different MSN, the positively charged particles quickly migrated into the strand previously containing only negatively charged MSN-COOH. The MSN-COOH seemed to be rather released into the surrounding liquid and also after 6 weeks no MSN-COOH signal could be detected in the strand previously only containing MSN-NH2. In case of a geometry without direct contact between the strands, the migration of the positively charged nanoparticles into the MSN-COOH containing strand was strongly delayed. This proved that the architecture of the printed construct can be used to fine-tune the particle release from nanoparticle containing printable hydrogel ink systems. Chapter 5 discusses an approach using hydrogel inks based on recombinant spider silk proteins processed via extrusion-based bioprinting. The ink could be applied for printing at protein concentrations of 3 % w/v without the addition of thickeners or any post process crosslinking. Both, the recombinant protein eADF4(C16) and a modification introducing a RGD-sequence to the protein (eADF4(C16)-RGD), could be printed revealing a very good print fidelity. The RGD modification had positive effect on the adhesion of cells seeded onto printed constructs. Furthermore, human fibroblasts encapsulated in the ink at concentrations of 1.2 million cells per mL did not alter the print fidelity and did not interfere with the crosslinking mechanism of the ink. This enabled printing cell laden constructs with a cell survival rate of 70.1±7.6 %. Although the cell survival rate needs to be improved in further trials, the approach shown is one of the first leading towards the shift of the window of biofabrication because it is based on a new material that does not need potentially harmful post-process crosslinking and allows the direct encapsulation of cells staying viable throughout the print process. KW - 3D-Druck KW - Elektrospinnen KW - 3D Bioprinting KW - Melt Electrowriting KW - Biofabrication Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-173444 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lorson, Thomas A1 - Ruopp, Matthias A1 - Nadernezhad, Ali A1 - Eiber, Julia A1 - Vogel, Ulrich A1 - Jungst, Tomasz A1 - Lühmann, Tessa T1 - Sterilization Methods and Their Influence on Physicochemical Properties and Bioprinting of Alginate as a Bioink Component JF - ACS Omega N2 - Bioprinting has emerged as a valuable threedimensional (3D) biomanufacturing method to fabricate complex hierarchical cell-containing constructs. Spanning from basic research to clinical translation, sterile starting materials are crucial. In this study, we present pharmacopeia compendial sterilization methods for the commonly used bioink component alginate. Autoclaving (sterilization in saturated steam) and sterile filtration followed by lyophilization as well as the pharmacopeia non-compendial method, ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation for disinfection, were assessed. The impact of the sterilization methods and their effects on physicochemical and rheological properties, bioprinting outcome, and sterilization efficiency of alginate were detailed. Only sterile filtration followed by lyophilization as the sterilization method retained alginate's physicochemical properties and bioprinting behavior while resulting in a sterile outcome. This set of methods provides a blueprint for the analysis of sterilization effects on the rheological and physicochemical pattern of bioink components and is easily adjustable for other polymers used in the field of biofabrication in the future. KW - hydrogels Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229460 N1 - Lizenz: https://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/authorchoice_termsofuse.html VL - 5 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hochleitner, Gernot A1 - Jüngst, Tomasz A1 - Brown, Toby D A1 - Hahn, Kathrin A1 - Moseke, Claus A1 - Jakob, Franz A1 - Dalton, Paul D A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Additive manufacturing of scaffolds with sub-micron filaments via melt electrospinning writing JF - Biofabrication N2 - The aim of this study was to explore the lower resolution limits of an electrohydrodynamic process combined with direct writing technology of polymer melts. Termed melt electrospinning writing, filaments are deposited layer-by-layer to produce discrete three-dimensional scaffolds for in vitro research. Through optimization of the parameters (flow rate, spinneret diameter, voltage, collector distance) for poly-ϵ-caprolactone, we could direct-write coherent scaffolds with ultrafine filaments, the smallest being 817 ± 165 nm. These low diameter filaments were deposited to form box-structures with a periodicity of 100.6 ± 5.1 μm and a height of 80 μm (50 stacked filaments; 100 overlap at intersections). We also observed oriented crystalline regions within such ultrafine filaments after annealing at 55 °C. The scaffolds were printed upon NCO-sP(EO-stat-PO)-coated glass slide surfaces and withstood frequent liquid exchanges with negligible scaffold detachment for at least 10 days in vitro. KW - additive manufacturing KW - 3D printing KW - biodegradable polymers KW - microstructures KW - nanostructures Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254053 VL - 7 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paxton, Naomi A1 - Smolan, Willi A1 - Böck, Thomas A1 - Melchels, Ferry A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Jungst, Tomasz T1 - Proposal to assess printability of bioinks for extrusion-based bioprinting and evaluation of rheological properties governing bioprintability JF - Biofabrication N2 - The development and formulation of printable inks for extrusion-based 3D bioprinting has been a major challenge in the field of biofabrication. Inks, often polymer solutions with the addition of crosslinking to form hydrogels, must not only display adequate mechanical properties for the chosen application but also show high biocompatibility as well as printability. Here we describe a reproducible two-step method for the assessment of the printability of inks for bioprinting, focussing firstly on screening ink formulations to assess fibre formation and the ability to form 3D constructs before presenting a method for the rheological evaluation of inks to characterise the yield point, shear thinning and recovery behaviour. In conjunction, a mathematical model was formulated to provide a theoretical understanding of the pressure-driven, shear thinning extrusion of inks through needles in a bioprinter. The assessment methods were trialled with a commercially available crème, poloxamer 407, alginate-based inks and an alginate-gelatine composite material. Yield stress was investigated by applying a stress ramp to a number of inks, which demonstrated the necessity of high yield for printable materials. The shear thinning behaviour of the inks was then characterised by quantifying the degree of shear thinning and using the mathematical model to predict the window of printer operating parameters in which the materials could be printed. Furthermore, the model predicted high shear conditions and high residence times for cells at the walls of the needle and effects on cytocompatibility at different printing conditions. Finally, the ability of the materials to recover to their original viscosity after extrusion was examined using rotational recovery rheological measurements. Taken together, these assessment techniques revealed significant insights into the requirements for printable inks and shear conditions present during the extrusion process and allow the rapid and reproducible characterisation of a wide variety of inks for bioprinting. KW - bioprinting KW - rheology KW - modelling KW - bioink Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-254061 VL - 9 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pien, Nele A1 - Bartolf–Kopp, Michael A1 - Parmentier, Laurens A1 - Delaey, Jasper A1 - de Vos, Lobke A1 - Mantovani, Diego A1 - van Vlierberghe, Sandra A1 - Dubruel, Peter A1 - Jungst, Tomasz T1 - Melt Electrowriting of a Photo–Crosslinkable Poly(ε–caprolactone)–Based Material into Tubular Constructs with Predefined Architecture and Tunable Mechanical Properties JF - Macromolecular Materials and Engineering N2 - Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an additive manufacturing process that produces highly defined constructs with elements in the micrometer range. A specific configuration of MEW enables printing tubular constructs to create small-diameter tubular structures. The small pool of processable materials poses a bottleneck for wider application in biomedicine. To alleviate this obstacle, an acrylate-endcapped urethane-based polymer (AUP), using a poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) (molar mass: 20 000 g mol\(^{−1}\)) (AUP PCL20k) as backbone material, is synthesized and utilized for MEW. Spectroscopic analysis confirms the successful modification of the PCL backbone with photo-crosslinkable acrylate endgroups. Printing experiments of AUP PCL20k reveal limited printability but the photo-crosslinking ability is preserved post-printing. To improve printability and to tune the mechanical properties of printed constructs, the AUP-material is blended with commercially available PCL (AUP PCL20k:PCL in ratios 80:20, 60:40, 50:50). Print fidelity improves for 60:40 and 50:50 blends. Blending enables modification of the constructs' mechanical properties to approximate the range of blood vessels for transplantation surgeries. The crosslinking-ability of the material allows pure AUP to be manipulated post-printing and illustrates significant differences in mechanical properties of 80:20 blends after crosslinking. An in vitro cell compatibility assay using human umbilical vein endothelial cells also demonstrates the material's non-cytotoxicity. KW - acrylate-endcapped urethane-based polymer (AUP) KW - tubular constructs KW - physicochemical characterization KW - photo-crosslinking KW - melt electrowriting (MEW) Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-318524 SN - 1438-7492 VL - 307 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jungst, Tomasz A1 - Pennings, Iris A1 - Schmitz, Michael A1 - Rosenberg, Antoine J. W. P. A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Gawlitta, Debby T1 - Heterotypic Scaffold Design Orchestrates Primary Cell Organization and Phenotypes in Cocultured Small Diameter Vascular Grafts JF - Advanced Functional Materials N2 - To facilitate true regeneration, a vascular graft should direct the evolution of a neovessel to obtain the function of a native vessel. For this, scaffolds have to permit the formation of an intraluminal endothelial cell monolayer, mimicking the tunica intima. In addition, when attempting to mimic a tunica media‐like outer layer, the stacking and orientation of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) should be recapitulated. An integral scaffold design that facilitates this has so far remained a challenge. A hybrid fabrication approach is introduced by combining solution electrospinning and melt electrowriting. This allows a tissue‐structure mimetic, hierarchically bilayered tubular scaffold, comprising an inner layer of randomly oriented dense fiber mesh and an outer layer of microfibers with controlled orientation. The scaffold supports the organization of a continuous luminal endothelial monolayer and oriented layers of vSM‐like cells in the media, thus facilitating control over specific and tissue‐mimetic cellular differentiation and support of the phenotypic morphology in the respective layers. Neither soluble factors nor a surface bioactivation of the scaffold is needed with this approach, demonstrating that heterotypic scaffold design can direct physiological tissue‐like cell organization and differentiation. KW - biofabricated vascular graft KW - heterotypic scaffold design KW - hybrid fabrication KW - primary vascular smooth muscle‐like cells (vSMCs) KW - melt electrowriting (MEW) Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-217039 VL - 29 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mechau, Jannik A1 - Frank, Andreas A1 - Bakirci, Ezgi A1 - Gumbel, Simon A1 - Jungst, Tomasz A1 - Giesa, Reiner A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Dalton, Paul D. A1 - Schmidt, Hans‐Werner T1 - Hydrophilic (AB)\(_{n}\) Segmented Copolymers for Melt Extrusion‐Based Additive Manufacturing JF - Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics N2 - Several manufacturing technologies beneficially involve processing from the melt, including extrusion‐based printing, electrospinning, and electrohydrodynamic jetting. In this study, (AB)\(_{n}\) segmented copolymers are tailored for melt‐processing to form physically crosslinked hydrogels after swelling. The copolymers are composed of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol)‐based segments and hydrophobic bisurea segments, which form physical crosslinks via hydrogen bonds. The degree of polymerization was adjusted to match the melt viscosity to the different melt‐processing techniques. Using extrusion‐based printing, a width of approximately 260 µm is printed into 3D constructs, with excellent interlayer bonding at fiber junctions, due to hydrogen bonding between the layers. For melt electrospinning, much thinner fibers in the range of about 1–15 µm are obtained and produced in a typical nonwoven morphology. With melt electrowriting, fibers are deposited in a controlled way to well‐defined 3D constructs. In this case, multiple fiber layers fuse together enabling constructs with line width in the range of 70 to 160 µm. If exposed to water the printed constructs swell and form physically crosslinked hydrogels that slowly disintegrate, which is a feature for soluble inks within biofabrication strategies. In this context, cytotoxicity tests confirm the viability of cells and thus demonstrating biocompatibility of this class of copolymers. KW - 3D printing KW - (AB)\(_{n}\) segmented copolymers KW - biocompatibility KW - melt electrowriting Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224513 VL - 222 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hrynevich, Andrei A1 - Achenbach, Pascal A1 - Jungst, Tomasz A1 - Brook, Gary A. A1 - Dalton, Paul D. T1 - Design of Suspended Melt Electrowritten Fiber Arrays for Schwann Cell Migration and Neurite Outgrowth JF - Macromolecular Bioscience N2 - In this study, well-defined, 3D arrays of air-suspended melt electrowritten fibers are made from medical grade poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL). Low processing temperatures, lower voltages, lower ambient temperature, increased collector distance, and high collector speeds all aid to direct-write suspended fibers that can span gaps of several millimeters between support structures. Such processing parameters are quantitatively determined using a “wedge-design” melt electrowritten test frame to identify the conditions that increase the suspension probability of long-distance fibers. All the measured parameters impact the probability that a fiber is suspended over multimillimeter distances. The height of the suspended fibers can be controlled by a concurrently fabricated fiber wall and the 3D suspended PCL fiber arrays investigated with early post-natal mouse dorsal root ganglion explants. The resulting Schwann cell and neurite outgrowth extends substantial distances by 21 d, following the orientation of the suspended fibers and the supporting walls, often generating circular whorls of high density Schwann cells between the suspended fibers. This research provides a design perspective and the fundamental parametric basis for suspending individual melt electrowritten fibers into a form that facilitates cell culture. KW - cell migration KW - electrospinning KW - fibers KW - neurite growth KW - polycaprolactone KW - tissue engineering Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257535 VL - 21 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Götz, Lisa-Marie A1 - Holeczek, Katharina A1 - Groll, Jürgen A1 - Jüngst, Tomasz A1 - Gbureck, Uwe T1 - Extrusion-Based 3D Printing of Calcium Magnesium Phosphate Cement Pastes for Degradable Bone Implants JF - Materials N2 - This study aimed to develop printable calcium magnesium phosphate pastes that harden by immersion in ammonium phosphate solution post-printing. Besides the main mineral compound, biocompatible ceramic, magnesium oxide and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) were the crucial components. Two pastes with different powder to liquid ratios of 1.35 g/mL and 1.93 g/mL were characterized regarding their rheological properties. Here, ageing over the course of 24 h showed an increase in viscosity and extrusion force, which was attributed to structural changes in HPMC as well as the formation of magnesium hydroxide by hydration of MgO. The pastes enabled printing of porous scaffolds with good dimensional stability and enabled a setting reaction to struvite when immersed in ammonium phosphate solution. Mechanical performance under compression was approx. 8–20 MPa as a monolithic structure and 1.6–3.0 MPa for printed macroporous scaffolds, depending on parameters such as powder to liquid ratio, ageing time, strand thickness and distance. KW - magnesium phosphate cement KW - extrusion-based 3D printing KW - degradable implant Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246110 SN - 1996-1944 VL - 14 IS - 18 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weis, Matthias A1 - Shan, Junwen A1 - Kuhlmann, Matthias A1 - Jungst, Tomasz A1 - Tessmar, Jörg A1 - Groll, Jürgen T1 - Evaluation of hydrogels based on oxidized hyaluronic acid for bioprinting JF - Gels N2 - In this study, we evaluate hydrogels based on oxidized hyaluronic acid, cross-linked with adipic acid dihydrazide, for their suitability as bioinks for 3D bioprinting. Aldehyde containing hyaluronic acid (AHA) is synthesized and cross-linked via Schiff Base chemistry with bifunctional adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH) to form a mechanically stable hydrogel with good printability. Mechanical and rheological properties of the printed and casted hydrogels are tunable depending on the concentrations of AHA and ADH cross-linkers. KW - biofabrication KW - bioprinting KW - hyaluronic acid Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197600 SN - 2310-2861 VL - 4 IS - 4 ER -