- Title
- Shining a light on the hidden structure of gelatin methacryloyl bioinks using small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS)
- Creator
- Boyd-Moss, Mitchell; Firipis, Kate; O'Connell, Cathal; Rifai, Aaqil; Long, Benjamin
- Date
- 2021
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/180520
- Identifier
- vital:15760
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1039/d1qm01010g
- Identifier
- ISBN:2052-1537 (ISSN)
- Abstract
- The challenge with engineering soft materials is to find a chemically functionalized material that can be easily fabricated into complex structures while providing a supportive cellular milieu. The current gold standard is gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), a semi-synthetic collagen-derived biomaterial that has found widespread utility as a bioink for 3D bioprinting. Although a fundamental understanding of controlling the mechanical properties of GelMA exists, the nano- and cell-scale network topology needs to be investigated to produce controlled structures. Here, for the first time, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is used to elucidate how structural changes on the network level dictate the final properties within a GelMA hydrogel. Scaffold nanostructure was observed pre- and post-crosslinking, with emphasis on assessing structural changes in response to changes in Degree of Functionalization (DoF) and polymer concentration. Samples were modelled regarding local-polymer conformation (mass fractal dimension), distance between entanglements (correlation length), and mesh size. Importantly, DoF is observed to alter crosslinked polymer conformation and nanoscale mesh size. These results inform future design of GelMA-based bioinks, allowing researchers to further leverage the young and evolving bioprinting technology for broad-spectrum applications such as cell/stem cell printing, organoid-based tissue structure, building cell/organ-on-a-chip, through to the hierarchical engineering of multicellular living systems. © 2021 the Partner Organisations. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Benjamin Long" is provided in this record**
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Relation
- Materials Chemistry Frontiers Vol. 5, no. 22 (2021), p. 8025-8036
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright © 2021 the Partner Organisations
- Subject
- 0912 Materials Engineering
- Reviewed
- Funder
- This research was undertaken on the Small/wide angle X-ray scattering beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, part of ANSTO (Application AS182/SAXS/13541). Low methacrylate GelMA was produced by ANFF at University of Wollongong (IPRI). Viscoelastic properties were performed in the BioFab3D laboratories at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. M. Boyd-Moss was supported by an RMIT Post-Submission Publication Support Grant. K. F. was supported by an RMIT Research Stipend, an RMIT Engineering Scholarship and an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. A. R. was supported by the Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. DRN was supported by a NHMRC Dementia Research Leadership Fellowship (GNT1135687).
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