Decellularized Extracellular Matrix-Based Bioinks for Tendon Regeneration in Three-Dimensional Bioprinting

Abstract

In the last few years, attempts to improve the regeneration of damaged tendons have been rising due to the growing demand. However, current treatments to restore the original performance of the tissue focus on the usage of grafts; although, actual grafts are deficient because they often cannot provide enough support for tissue regeneration, leading to additional complications. The beneficial effect of combining 3D bioprinting and dECM as a novel bioink biomaterial has recently been described. Tendon dECMs have been obtained by using either chemical, biological, or/and physical treatments. Although decellularization protocols are not yet standardized, recently, different protocols have been published. New therapeutic approaches embrace the use of dECM in bioinks for 3D bioprinting, as it has shown promising results in mimicking the composition and the structure of the tissue. However, major obstacles include the poor structural integrity and slow gelation properties of dECM bioinks. Moreover, printing parameters such as speed and temperature have to be optimized for each dECM bioink. Here, we show that dECM bioink for 3D bioprinting provides a promising approach for tendon regeneration for future clinical applications.