Title:

Synthesis and Characterization of Gelatin Methacrylate Hydrogels

The generation of biomaterials for advanced therapies involves the seeding of mammalian cells into a scaffold or encapsulation into a biomaterial before 3D printing. Gelatin methacrylate-based 3D printing materials are biocompatible and tunable to different mammalian cell types, making them useful for the investigation of novel regenerative therapies. In this project, different batches of GelMA were synthesized at UNH Manchester, and their degrees of methacrylate functionalization were assessed using 1H NMR. ReNcell VM were encapsulated into GelMA as single cells or neurospheres, then 3D printed using the Corning Matribot to assess both the printability and biocompatibility of our different GelMA batches. Advanced Biomatrix GelMA had the highest ratio of methacrylate functionalization compared to all batches of sGelMA tested. When different types of sGelMA were 3D printed with ReNcell VM, batches A, B, and C dissolved by day 5. Some cells remained alive and appeared to attach to the bottom of the well plates. SGelMA(D) 3D prints did not completely dissolve. This is likely related to the degrees of methacrylate functionalization. The rate at which GelMA dissolves can be tuned to cater its properties to a specific cell type. The use of ReNcell VM neurospheres may have a protective effect during the 3D printing process and provide better results compared to printing with single cells. GelMA alone is likely insufficient for high 3D printing resolution. Mixing other materials, such as silica nanoparticles, hydrocarbon polymers, or peptides which are known to promote cell adhesion may improve fidelity and cell viability. More research is required to further improve GelMA synthesis and better understand its uses in regenerative medicine.

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