BC enhanced photocurable hydrogel based on 3D bioprinting for nasal cartilage repair

The repair of nasal cartilage lesions and defects is still a difficult problem in nasal surgery, and nasal cartilage tissue engineering will be an effective way to solve this problem. Hydrogel has excellent application potential in tissue engineering. In order to produce a 3D printable scaffold for cartilage regeneration, we prepared gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)/hyaluronic acid methacryloyl (HAMA)/bacterial cellulose (BC) composite hydrogel. The composite hydrogel was characterized by swelling, mechanical properties, and printing performance test. Compared with GelMA/HAMA hydrogel, the addition of BC not only significantly enhanced the mechanical properties of the hydrogels, but also improved the printing fidelity. At the same time, the mouse chondrocyte cell line (ATDC5) was used to evaluate the biocompatibility of the composite hydrogel. After 7 d of culture, the cells encapsulated within the composite hydrogels proliferated significantly and maintain the expression of specific proteins. In addition, the cell viability of the encapsulated ATDC5 cells in the 3D bioprinted hybrid constructs was evaluated. In summary, these results indicate that BC-enhanced GelMA/HAMA hydrogel is a promising candidate material for nasal cartilage repair.