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International Journal of Bioprinting 3D bioprinting of ultrashort peptides for chondrogenesis

considering the mechanical properties after bioprinting Funding
for tissue engineering. However, to better understand This work was financially supported by the King Abdullah
the effect of matrix stiffness on the differentiation of University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (grant no:
stem cells, microrheology could be studied. In addition, BAS/1/1075-01-01).
investigating the expression level of osteogenesis- and
adipogenesis-associated genes in undifferentiated Conflict of interest
constructs after 3D bioprinting would provide a better
understanding of the matrix stiffness effect on the The authors declare no conflict of interests.
differentiation of stem cells.
We found that the ultrashort peptide bioink with softer Author contributions
mechanical properties (stiffness) could better support Conceptualization: Charlotte A. E. Hauser, Dana M.
chondrogenesis. Other studies reported similar findings Alhattab
of better chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs on lower- Formal analysis: Dana M. Alhattab, Zainab Khan
stiffness substrates (soft substrates) [51-54] . Investigation: Dana M. Alhattab, Zainab Khan, Hepi H.
Susapto
4. Conclusion Methodology: Dana M. Alhattab, Zainab Khan, Hepi H.
Susapto, Salwa Alshehri
3D bioprinting is an emerging technology with great Supervision: Charlotte A. E. Hauser
potential in regenerative medicine applications, Writing – original draft: All authors
including fabricating tissue mimics and disease models. Writing – review & editing: All authors
However, identifying bioinks with high biocompatibility
and tailored mechanical stiffness is critical. Mechanical All authors have given approval for the final version of
stiffness is essential in guiding stem cell differentiation the manuscript.
toward specific lineages. This can be exploited to develop Ethics approval and consent to participate
3D constructs that can direct the differentiation toward
the tissue of interest. Here, we reported on two ultrashort The study was approved by the Institutional Biosafety and
peptide bioinks with high biocompatibility and different Ethics Committee (IBEC) at King Abdullah University of
mechanical stiffness. The uniqueness of those ultrashort Science and Technology (KAUST) (21IBEC023).
peptides stems from being chemically well-defined, thus
avoiding any batch-to-batch variations. In addition to Consent for publication
their instant gelation at physiological conditions without Not applicable.
needing harmful crosslinking reagents, those properties
make them great candidates for various tissue engineering Availability of data
applications. We demonstrated that both ultrashort
peptides supported the chondrogenic differentiation All data are available in the manuscript, and from the
of human bone marrow MSCs and could be used for corresponding author upon request..
cartilage tissue engineering applications. Chondrogenic-
specific markers such as Col-II and aggrecan were highly References
expressed in both ultrashort peptides, demonstrating the
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2. Fang Y, Eglen RM, 2017, Three-dimensional cell cultures in
Moreover, due to the differences in the mechanical drug discovery and development. SLAS Discov, 22(5):456–472.
properties of the IZZK and IIZK peptides, a combination
of both ultrashort peptide bioinks could be used in the 3. Zhao W, Jin X, Cong Y, et al., 2013, Degradable natural
polymer hydrogels for articular cartilage tissue engineering.
bioprinting procedure to develop cartilage tissues with J Chem Technol Biotechnol, 88(3):327–339.
different cartilaginous zones.
4. Lu B, Yuk H, Lin S, et al., 2019, Pure pedot: Pss hydrogels.
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Acknowledgments
5. Yang J, Bai R, Suo Z, 2018, Topological adhesion of wet
The authors acknowledge Professor Abdalla Awidi from materials. Adv Mater, 30(25):1800671.
the University of Jordan for providing primary human 6. Seow WY, Hauser CA, 2014, Short to ultrashort peptide
mesenchymal stem cells. hydrogels for biomedical uses. Mater Today, 17(8):381–388.

Volume 9 Issue 4 (2023) 72 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.719