Integrated 3D Printing-Based Framework—A Strategy to Fabricate Tubular Structures with Mechanocompromised Hydrogels

Several hollow organs perform various crucial functions in the body and must be replaced, repaired, or augmented in many disease conditions. Fabrication of tissue analogues to these hollow organs is incredibly challenging. Still, recent advancements in biofabrication have allowed researchers to pursue the development of several hollow organs such as blood vessels, esophagus, trachea, urethra, and others. Materials like collagen, alginate, elastin, silk, fibrin, etc., have been predominantly used for organ development. However, the focus has been duly shifted toward decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) to develop tissue-specific hydrogels because they provide relevant biochemical cues to promote cellular activity. Still, the dECM-based hydrogels are mechanically weak to fabricate self-supporting tubular structures. Here, an innovative approach using the stereolithography apparatus (SLA) 3D printed framework has been implemented to achieve a self-supporting tubular structure using caprine esophagus muscle dECM hydrogel. A significant improvement in the mechanical stability of the biofabricated tissue has been observed within 7 days of culture. Interestingly, the encapsulated L929 mouse fibroblasts transdifferentiated into myofibroblasts because of the cues provided by the muscle dECM. Overall, the potential of an SLA-based 3D printing strategy to fabricate frameworks, especially for fabricating tubular organs/tissues using mechanocompromised hydrogel, has been demonstrated here.