Influence of anisotropic fiber-reinforcement on cell behavior and printability of bioinks (A07)

• Subject Area: Biomaterials
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 326998133

In subproject A07, electrospinning is applied to generate submicron-fibers, which can be printed as fillers in composite bioinks. Such fiber reinforcement can be conducted to reduce the hydrogel’s polymer concentration resulting in enhanced cell mobility within the printed construct while maintaining the bioink’s printability in terms of shape fidelity. Furthermore, flow-induced anisotropically aligned fibers can serve as a substrate for cell-adhesion contributing to oriented cell growth. Based on the first funding period, cell-specific reactions will now be identified applying tailored fiber-matrix-formulations and the shear-rheological characterization will be expanded to include extensional rheological models representing 3D-printing.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 225: From the fundamentals of biofabrication towards functional tissue models
• Applicant Institution: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
• Project Heads: Dr.-Ing. Gregor Lang; Professor Dr. Dirk W. Schubert; Dr. Natascha Schäfer, since 1/2022