Alginate-honey bioinks with improved cell responses for applications as bioprinted tissue engineered constructs

The polysaccharide alginate has received most extensive attention as bioink in bioprinting applications due to its ability to undergo gelation under cell-friendly conditions. However, absence of cell-binding motifs and the erratic degradation of alginate hydrogels have remained their persistent limitations. Honey is a conveniently available natural material, known for its role in wound healing and skin tissue regeneration. However, honey blending to improve biological response of alginate-based bioprinted scaffolds has not been yet reported. In the present work, honey-alginate bioinks were evaluated for their printability property (shape fidelity). It was found that honey blending reduced alginate viscosity, which gradually affected bioprinting fidelity. Therefore, the concentration that provides for acceptable bioprinting along with improvement in cell proliferations is determined. It is concluded that honey blending improves cell response of alginate bioinks and can be a facile approach to obtain bioinks especially for in situ skin tissue engineering applications.