Suitability of Marine- and Porcine-Derived Collagen Type I Hydrogels for Bioprinting and Tissue Engineering Scaffolds
Malachy Maher,
Veronica Glattauer,
Carmine Onofrillo,
Serena Duchi,
Zhilian Yue,
Timothy C. Hughes,
John A. M. Ramshaw,
Gordon G. Wallace
Affiliations
Malachy Maher
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2519, Australia
Veronica Glattauer
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO Manufacturing, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Carmine Onofrillo
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2519, Australia
Serena Duchi
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2519, Australia
Zhilian Yue
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2519, Australia
Timothy C. Hughes
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO Manufacturing, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
John A. M. Ramshaw
Department of Surgery, St. Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3065, Australia
Gordon G. Wallace
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2519, Australia
Collagens from a wide array of animals have been explored for use in tissue engineering in an effort to replicate the native extracellular environment of the body. Marine-derived biomaterials offer promise over their conventional mammalian counterparts due to lower risk of disease transfer as well as being compatible with more religious and ethical groups within society. Here, collagen type I derived from a marine source (Macruronus novaezelandiae, Blue Grenadier) is compared with the more established porcine collagen type I and its potential in tissue engineering examined. Both collagens were methacrylated, to allow for UV crosslinking during extrusion 3D printing. The materials were shown to be highly cytocompatible with L929 fibroblasts. The mechanical properties of the marine-derived collagen were generally lower than those of the porcine-derived collagen; however, the Young’s modulus for both collagens was shown to be tunable over a wide range. The marine-derived collagen was seen to be a potential biomaterial in tissue engineering; however, this may be limited due to its lower thermal stability at which point it degrades to gelatin.
