3D PRINTING OF HYALURONIC ACID SCAFFOLDS FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS BY

Direct-write assembly is used to fabricate 3D microperiodic scaffolds composed of hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural, biocompatible, biodegradeable polymer, for cell culture and tissue engineering applications. HA is functionalized with UV-curable glycidyl methacrylate (GM) and printed to create 3D scaffolds with filament diameters ranging from 10-250 µm. The potential for 3D HAGM scaffolds in injectable applications is demonstrated by flowing 1.5 mm x1.5 mm scaffolds through a channel tapered to 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm without damage. The compressive moduli of HAGM scaffolds can be tuned by varying the spacing between pattern filaments, and optimal designs exhibit values akin to the compressive modulus of articular cartilage. Porcine adipose derived stem cells (ASCs) are cultured on HAGM scaffolds with the aim of inducing chondrogenic differentiation. Cartilage formation on 3D printed scaffolds is better distributed within the scaffolds relative to 2D controls, and new tissue is best able to infiltrate their microperiodic structure when a cell-adhesive RGD peptide is incorporated. To achieve the most effective distribution of ASCs within the 3D scaffolds, seeding of cells within dilut