3D printing of cell laden bioinks has the potential to recapitulate the hierarchical and spatial complexity of native tissues. However, the addition of cells can alter physical properties of printable resins, which in turn may impede or induce cellular sedimentation or affect the printability and shape fidelity of the final construct. In this study we investigated these considerations by bioprinting gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) bioinks, loaded with various concentrations of mouse fibroblast cells (L929), using extrusion-based direct-write 3D printing (EDP). The impact of various cellular concentrations on viscosity, and temperature-driven gelation of GelMA was examined with a rheometer. The effect of…
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has enabled benchtop fabrication of customized bioengineered constructs with intricate architectures. Various approaches are being explored to enable optimum integration of such constructs into the physiological environment including addition of bioactive fillers. In this work, we incorporated a corticosteroid drug, dexamethasone (Dex), in a low modulus polyester (SC5050) and examined the effect of Dex incorporation on solvent-, initiator-, and monomer-free pneumatic extrusion-based 3D printing of the polymer. Dex–SC5050 interactions were characterized by plotting thermodynamic binary phase diagrams based on the Flory–Huggins theory. The effect of Dex composition on the 3D printability of the SC5050 polyester was examined…