Page 308 - IJB-10-3

International

Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
3D-bioprinted hydrogels with instructive niches

for dental pulp regeneration

Nazi Zhou , Shunyao Zhu , Xinlin Wei , Xueyuan Liao , Yu Wang , Yue Xu ,
1
1
1
1
1
2
Liyun Bai , Haoyuan Wan , Li Liu , Jiumeng Zhang ,Ling Zeng , Jie Tao *,
1
3
1
1
4
1
and Rui Liu *
1
1 Department of Stomatology, Daping Hospital, Army Medical University (The Third Military Medical
University), Chongqing, China
2 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
3 Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
4 Department of Trauma Medical Center, Daping Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns
and Combined Injury, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Special Issue of International Journal of Bioprinting in the BDMC
2023 Conference)
Abstract
Infections to dental pulp commonly result in pulpitis and pulp necrosis, and surgical
removal of the infected tissues is the only therapeutic approach. Dental pulp injury
remains a challenging medical issue due to the limited regenerative capability
of dental pulp. In this work, a dental pulp guidance construct (DPGC) with the
instructive niche was bioprinted to mimic native teeth for dentin and neovascular-
like structure reconstruction. GelMA-Dextran aqueous emulsion was used as an ink
*Corresponding authors:
Jie Tao for in situ printing of porous DPGC to induce predominant nuclear localization of
(taojietanker@sina.com) Yes-associated protein (YAP) in the encapsulated dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and
enhance their stemness properties. Furthermore, the DPSCs encapsulated in DPGC
Rui Liu
(liurui123@tmmu.edu.cn) with microporous structures exhibited enhanced viability, migration, and spreading.
Meanwhile, we found that DPGC could promote capillary tube formation and induce
Citation: Zhou N, Zhu S, Wei
X, et al. 3D-bioprinted hydrogels neurogenesis. In a mouse subcutaneous implant model, the DPGC consisted of
with instructive niches for dental porous structures, such as odontoblasts and newly formed vascular structures, that
pulp regeneration. Int J Bioprint. mimic dental pulp characteristics. This study demonstrated a new strategy to design
2024;10(3):1790.
doi: 10.36922/ijb.1790 DPGC with instructive niche for dental pulp regeneration, presenting a potential
treatment alternative to root canal therapy.
Received: September 11, 2023
Accepted: December 21, 2023
Published Online: February 5, 2024
Keywords: Dental pulp guidance construct; Dental pulp stem cells; Porous
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). hydrogel; Dental pulp regeneration
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, 1. Introduction
provided the original work is
properly cited. Dental pulp injury—a common outcome of trauma or bacterial infection affecting
Publisher’s Note: AccScience caries—emerges as a pressing medical issue with far-reaching consequences, including
Publishing remains neutral with loss of nourishing dentin and sensing external stimuli. In 2006, more than 400,000
1
regard to jurisdictional claims in patients in the USA were diagnosed with dental pulp disease and required to undergo
published maps and institutional
2
affiliations. removal of the diseased pulp or even the tooth. Root canal treatment (RCT) is a standard

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 300 doi: 10.36922/ijb.1790