3D-printed hydrogel structure using peptide inks could be gamechanger for regenerative medicine

Good news!

"... scientists have developed a revolutionary solution for constructing complex structures for housing cells using a soft, Jell-O-like material. By using a self-assembling peptide ink, researchers ... have figured out how to 3D-print well-defined structures, which could be used to grow muscles and — perhaps one day — entire organs fit for transplant. ...
These core peptides used as ink are designed to be hydrophobic (rejecting water) on one side and hydrophilic (attracting water) on the other, which allows them to stack onto one another like a ‘hydrophobic sandwich’ and form long fibers, which then form a hydrogel — a water-based material with a gelatinous texture that can be useful for a wide range of applications, ranging from tissue engineering and soft robotics to wastewater treatment. ..."

From the abstract:

"3D printing has become one of the primary fabrication strategies used in biomedical research. Recent efforts have focused on the 3D printing of hydrogels to create structures that better replicate the mechanical properties of biological tissues. These pose a unique challenge, as soft materials are difficult to pattern in three dimensions with high fidelity. Currently, a small number of biologically derived polymers that form hydrogels are frequently reused for 3D printing applications. Thus, there exists a need for novel hydrogels with desirable biological properties that can be used as 3D printable inks. In this work, the printability of multidomain peptides (MDPs), a class of self-assembling peptides that form a nanofibrous hydrogel at low concentrations, is established. MDPs with different charge functionalities are optimized as distinct inks and are used to create complex 3D structures, including multi-MDP prints. Additionally, printed MDP constructs are used to demonstrate charge-dependent differences in cellular behavior in vitro. This work presents the first time that self-assembling peptides have been used to print layered structures with overhangs and internal porosity. Overall, MDPs are a promising new class of 3D printable inks that are uniquely peptide-based and rely solely on supramolecular mechanisms for assembly."

3D-printed Jell-O-like structure using peptide inks could be gamechanger for regenerative medicine

3D Printing of Self-Assembling Nanofibrous Multidomain Peptide Hydrogels (no public access)