Page 453 - IJB-10-4

International

Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
3D-bioprinted gelatin methacryloyl hydrogel

culture system emulating the oviduct
environment for enhanced preimplantation

embryo development

Yun Dong Koo , Min-Hee Kang 1,2† id , Dahong Kim 3,4† id , Min Jeong Cho ,
1†
1,2
Yu Jin Kim , JuYi Jang , Seon Ju Yeo , Geehong Kim , Su A Park * ,
1
1
3
3
3 id
and Jae Ho Lee *
1,2 id
1 Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pocheon, Gyeonggi,
South Korea
2 CHA Fertility Center, Seoul Station, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea
3 Nano-Convergence Manufacturing Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials
(KIMM), Yuseong District, Daejeon, South Korea
4 Department of Applied Bioengineering, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology,
Seoul National University, Gwanak District, Seoul, South Korea
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: 3D printing of bioinspired materials)
Abstract

Oviducts have specific biomechanical properties that support fertilization and
† These authors contributed equally
to this work. preimplantation embryo development, both of which are essential for successful
pregnancy. However, conventional plastic-based human embryo culture does not
*Corresponding authors: recapitulate the biomechanical environment of the oviduct. Therefore, oviduct mimic
Su A Park (psa@kimm.re.kr) culture systems that accurately emulate biophysical conditions for reproductive
Jae Ho Lee (jaeho@cha.ac.kr)
cells are a significant unmet clinical need. In the present study, we designed a three-
Citation: Koo YD, Kang MH, dimensional (3D)-bioprinted optimal soft hydrogel system that accurately mimics the
Kim D, et al. 3D-bioprinted
gelatin methacryloyl hydrogel oviduct environment and investigated signaling factors during embryo development.
culture system emulating We developed an oviduct tube-mimic hydrogel culture dish using gelatin methacryloyl
the oviduct environment for (GelMA) 3D-bioprinted hydrogel. Quantitative assessment of hydrogel mechanical
enhanced preimplantation
embryo development. properties depended on the stiffness of the GelMA 3D-bioprinted hydrogel. Embryo
Int J Bioprint. 2024;10(4):3346. quality was evaluated based on cleavage speed and blastocyst ratio on the GelMA
doi: 10.36922/ijb.3346 hydrogel. Whole-transcriptome next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of
Received: April 2, 2024 embryos was used to identify biomechanical signaling factors. Our findings revealed
Accepted: May 28, 2024 that 10 kPa GelMA hydrogel culture conditions performed better with respect to
Published Online: July 22, 2024
development speed, blastocyst ratio, and hatching ratio than the control condition.
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). Whole transcriptome NGS revealed up-regulation of mRNA processing genes and
This is an Open Access article protein transport genes by the 7 and 10 kPa hydrogels. Furthermore, the inner cell mass
distributed under the terms of the
+
Creative Commons Attribution and the number of Oct4 cells were significantly higher in blastocysts cultured on 10
License, permitting distribution, kPa hydrogel dishes than in those cultured on conventional hard plastic dishes. These
and reproduction in any medium, findings demonstrate that optimized oviduct-mimic hydrogel-based 3D GelMA culture
provided the original work is
properly cited. dishes could improve in vitro embryo development. Hence, 3D GelMA culture dishes
may be useful as human embryo culture systems for assisted reproductive techniques.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: Oviduct; 3D bioprinting; Mechanical property; RNA sequencing;
affiliations. Hydrogel

Volume 10 Issue 4 (2024) 445 doi: 10.36922/ijb.3346