Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics Research Group

Papers in Scientific Journals

Engineering patient-specific bioprinted constructs for treatment of degenerated intervertebral disc

Abstract

Lower back pain (LBP), which is strongly associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, is one of the
most frequently reported age- and work-related disorder in actual society, leading to a huge socio-economic impact
worldwide. The current treatments have poor clinical outcomes and do not consider each patient needs.
Thus, there is a growing interest in the potential of personalized cell-based tissue engineering (TE) approaches
aimed to regenerate the damaged IVD and efficiently restore full disc function. In this work, a bioink composed
by silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel combined with elastin was used to bioprint patient-specific substitutes mimicking
IVD ultrastructure, and particularly for the outer region of the IVD (i.e. annulus fibrosus, AF). Following a reverse
engineering approach, the proposed strategy makes use of a 3D model of AF obtained by semi-automatic morphological
segmentation from magnetic resonance imaging dataset of human IVD. SF/elastin bioprinted scaffolds
were characterized thoroughly in vitro, in terms of physico-chemical and biological performance. The bioprinted
SF/elastin scaffolds were shown to possess structural and mechanical properties similar to the native AF and
supports cell attachment and growth. Human adipose-derived stem cell cultured onto the SF/elastin bioprinted
scaffolds were shown to adhere, proliferate and maintain metabolic activity and viability up to 21days of culturing.
The implantation of custom-made SF/elastin implants that best emulate a patient AF anatomy can potentially
open up new personalized treatments for tackling IVD disorders by means of improving recovery time after
surgery and help to restore spine biofunctionality

Journal
Materials Today Communications
Volume
19
Issue
2019
Pagination
506-512
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
2352-4928
URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352492817301344
Keywords
3D printing, intervertebral disc, Patient-specific, Reverse Engineering, Silk Fibroin
Rights
Restricted Access
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Status
published
Project
B-FABULUS
Year of Publication
2019
DOI
10.1016/j.mtcomm.2018.01.011
Date Published
2019-06-04
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