The development of a 3D printable chitosan-based copolymer with tunable properties for dentoalveolar regeneration

Carbohydr Polym. 2022 Aug 1:289:119441. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119441. Epub 2022 Apr 2.

Abstract

Dentoalveolar tissue engineering is an emerging yet challenging field, considering the lack of suitable materials and difficulty to produce patient-specific hydrogel scaffolds. The present paper aims to produce a 3D printable and tuneable biomaterial by copolymerizing a synthesized water-soluble chitosan derivative called maleic anhydride grafted chitosan (MA-C) with gelatin using genipin, a natural crosslinking agent. Development and testing of this material for 3D printing, degradation, and swelling demonstrated the ability to fabricate scaffolds with controlled physical properties based on pre-determined designs. The MA-C-gelatin copolymer demonstrated excellent biocompatibility, which was verified by analyzing the viability, growth and proliferation of human dental pulp stem cells seeded on MA-C-gelatin constructs through live/dead, alamar blue and DNA quantification assays. Based on the present findings, the proposed material might be a suitable candidate for dentoalveolar tissue engineering, while further research is required to achieve this goal.

Keywords: 3D printing; Chitosan; Dental pulp stem cells; Dental tissue; Gelatin; Maleic anhydride.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Proliferation
  • Chitosan*
  • Gelatin
  • Humans
  • Polymers
  • Regeneration
  • Tissue Scaffolds

Substances

  • Polymers
  • Gelatin
  • Chitosan