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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Optimization of a 3D bioprinting process using

ultrashort peptide bioinks

Zainab Khan , Kowther Kahin , Sakandar Rauf , Gustavo Ramirez-Calderon ,
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Nikolaos Papagiannis , Mohammed Abdulmajid , Charlotte A. E. Hauser *
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1 Laboratory for Nanomedicine, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah,
University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Abstract: The field of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is rapidly emerging as an additive manufacturing method for
tissue and organ fabrication. The demand for tissues and organ transplants is ever increasing, although donors are not as
readily available. Consequently, tissue engineering is gaining much attention to alleviate this problem. The process of
achieving well-structured 3D bioprinted constructs using hydrogel bioinks depends on symmetrical precision, regulated
flow rates, and viability of cells. Even with the mentioned parameters optimized, the printed structures need additional
refining by removing excessive liquids, as peptide hydrogel bioprints encapsulate water. However, it is challenging
to eliminate the confined fluids without compromising the printing process. In this paper, we introduced a vacuum
system to our 3D bioprinting robotic arm and thus optimized the printing quality for complex and refined 3D scaffolds.
Moreover, the proposed vacuum system supports printing with cells. Our results show improved printing resolution
which facilitates the printing of higher and more stable structures.
Keywords: Three-dimensional bioprinting; ultrashort peptides; biomaterials; bioinks; tissue engineering; vacuum
system

*Correspondence to: Charlotte A. E. Hauser, Laboratory for Nanomedicine, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Division of
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, 4700 Thuwal, 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; charlotte.hauser@kaust.edu.sa

Received: November 9, 2018; Accepted: November 25, 2018; Published Online: December 14, 2018
Citation: Khan Z, Kahin K, Rauf S, et al., 2019, Optimization of a three-dimensional bioprinting process using ultrashort
peptide bioinks. Int J Bioprint, 5(1): 173. http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v5i1.173

1. Introduction effective for the regeneration of several types of organs,
tissue-engineered scaffolds do not entirely mimic the
On average, 20 people die every day in the US alone while native tissue and lack the intricate details of its structure.
waiting for organ transplants . As this number continues Furthermore, the use of organic solvents in the process
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to grow and more patients are added to the waiting lists, of tissue fabrication may negatively affect cell growth .
[3]
biologists and biomedical engineers struggle to find a Consequently, a valuable advantage of 3D bioprinting
stable solution that can be cost-effective and suitable for is the possibility of whole organ fabrication. With the
tissue and organ fabrication. Research is rapidly growing help of computer-aided design techniques, models
in the field of tissue engineering as an alternative solution can be designed and generated to closely mimic organ
to tissue and organ transplantation, with a particular focus structures . Additional advantages include rapid
[4]
on three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting . prototyping, high precision, high resolution, and
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3D bioprinting is gaining much attention because of its computer-automated control .
[5]
potential to resolve issues that occur with classical tissue Inkjet bioprinting is quite similar to conventional paper
engineering . Although tissue engineering has been printing. Bioinks are stored in cartridges and acoustic or
[2]
Optimization of a 3D bioprinting process using ultrashort peptide bioinks © 2019 Khan z, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting
all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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