Enzymatic post-crosslinking of printed hydrogels of methacrylated gelatin and tyramine-conjugated 8-arm poly(ethylene glycol) to prepare interpenetrating 3D network structures.

Methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) has been intensively studied as a 3D printable scaffold material in tissue regeneration fields, which can be attributed to its well-known biological functions. However, the long-term stability of photo-crosslinked GelMA scaffolds is hampered by a combination of its fast degradation in the presence of collagenase and the loss of physical crosslinks at higher temperatures. To increase the longer-term shape stability of printed scaffolds, a mixture of GelMA and tyramine-conjugated 8-arm PEG (8PEGTA) was used to create filaments composed of an interpenetrating network (IPN).

Flat and microstructured polymeric membranes in organs-on-chips.

In recent years, organs-on-chips (OOCs) have been developed to meet the desire for more realistic cell culture models. These systems introduce microfluidics, mechanical stretch and other physiological stimuli to models, thereby significantly enhancing their descriptive power. In most OOCs, porous polymeric membranes are used as substrates for cell culture.