Visible light photocrosslinking of sugar beet pectin for 3D bioprinting applications

Herein, we report the hydrogelation of sugar beet pectin (SBP) via visible light-mediated photocrosslinking and its applications in extrusion-based 3D bioprinting. Rapid hydrogelation (<15 s) was achieved by applying 405 nm visible light to an SBP solution in the presence of tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride hexahydrate ([Ru (bpy)3]2+) and sodium persulfate (SPS). The mechanical properties of the hydrogel could be tuned by controlling the visible light irradiation time and concentrations of SBP, [Ru(bpy)3]2+, and SPS. High-fidelity 3D hydrogel constructs were fabricated by extruding inks containing 3.0 wt% SBP, 1.0 mM [Ru(bpy)3]2+, and 1.0 mM SPS. Human hepatoblastoma (HepG2) cells encapsulated in SBP hydrogels remained viable and metabolically active after 14 d of culture. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of applying SBP and a visible light-mediated photocrosslinking system to the 3D bioprinting of cell-laden constructs for tissue engineering applications.

Automated summary

In this study, the hydrogelation of sugar beet pectin (SBP) was achieved via visible light-mediated photocrosslinking, and its application in extrusion-based 3D bioprinting was demonstrated. By applying 405 nm visible light to an SBP solution in the presence of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ and SPS, rapid hydrogelation (<15 s) was achieved. The mechanical properties of the hydrogel could be controlled by adjusting the visible light irradiation time and concentrations of SBP, [Ru(bpy)3]2+, and SPS. High-fidelity 3D hydrogel constructs were successfully fabricated using SBP-based inks, and encapsulated cells remained viable and metabolically active after 14 days of culture.