Page 117 - Development of Functional Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering Using 3D-Bioprinting of Cells and Biomaterials - Yasaman Zamani

differentiation, and death [37]. When seeded on the PLGA/β-TCP scaffold, cells were in direct contact with the surface of the PLGA/β-TCP struts. This was advantageous for osteogenic differentiation since PLGA/β-TCP struts have a hydrophilic surface with suitable surface roughness required for osteogenic differentiation. Moreover, β-TCP particles can help induce osteogenic differentiation of the pre-osteoblasts [38]. However, when cells were encapsulated in alginate, interaction of cells with the surface of the PLGA/β-TCP struts was hampered by the alginate layer. Rather, cells were dispersed in a soft non-osteoinductive matrix which resulted in lower osteogenic differentiation of the pre-osteoblasts. Our results are in agreement with data by others who showed that alginate encapsulation parameters influence the differentiation of the encapsulated cells [39, 40]. We postulate that incorporation of bioactive molecules in the alginate formulation might enhance the osteogenic potential of alginate-based bioprinted scaffolds.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the bioprinted scaffolds had enhanced cell retention, but impaired cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation compared to the cell-seeded scaffolds. This might have important implications for the improvement of alginate-based bioinks with e.g. (natural) bioactive peptides for bioprinting of bone tissue engineering scaffolds.
115