Sharif Digital Repository

Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide. For instance, in 2015, almost 31% of the world’s mortality rate was due to these causes. One of these diseases is cardiac coronary vessels’ occlusion which leads to the insufficient blood supply to the heart tissue and cardiomyocytes death after Myocardial Infarction (MI). After MI, a hierarchy of events in the heart tissue changes heart muscle and forms cardiac fibrosis. This fibrotic tissue does not have the native one’s properties and function, so it will cause cardiac arrest and patient death. Therefore, it is obvious that vascular network plays a crucial role in the heart function. The importance of cardiac... 

3D bioprinting technology is a promising approach for corneal stromal tissue regeneration. At first, two different concentrations of GelMA macromer (7.5% and 12.5%) were tested for corneal stroma bioprinting. Due to high macromer concentrations, 12.5% GelMA was stiffer than 7.5% GelMA, which made it easier to handle. In terms of water content and optical transmittance of the bioprinted scaffolds, we observed that scaffold with 12.5% GelMA concentration was closer to the native corneal stroma tissue. Subsequently, cell proliferation, gene and protein expression of human corneal stromal cells encapsulated in the bioprinted scaffolds were investigated. Cytocompatibility in 12.5% GelMA scaffolds... 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) currently remains a considerable challenge for clinical treatments. CVDs account for N17.5 million deaths per year and will predictably increase to 23.6 million by 2030. The main purpose is to create human model systems to study the effect of disease mutations or drug treatment on the heart. In addition, engineered cardiac tissues are considered promising candidates to be transplanted to improve the function of diseased hearts. For engineered active tissues/organs, 3D bioprinting can fabricate complex tissue architecture with a spatiotemporal distribution of bioactive substances (cells, growth factors, and others) to better guide tissue regeneration. However,... 

In this study, a new bioink was introduced for the production of tubular tissue structures for cardiac tissue engineering by bioprinter using the FRESH (Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels) method. The novel bioink that we used was a combination of cardiac extracellular matrix (cECM) and oxidized alginate. The cardiac extracellular matrix was used to increase the biomimetic of the printed structures to the actual tissue of the body, and also to create sites for cell adhesion, and to improve cell growth and survival. We used alginate oxide (oxidation degree: 5%) to increase the mechanical properties of the tissue. Alginate oxidation has been due to extracellular matrix (ECM)... 

Building complex and functional tissues and organs is very challenging. One of the challenges is building an efficient network of blood vessels that can be used to facilitate the transport of nutrients and oxygen to the host. In addition to using channels for oxygen supply, another solution is to use oxygen-carrying materials. In this study, in addition to designing and simulating scaffolds with multi-scale microchannels, calcium peroxide was used to release oxygen and eliminate hypoxia in the scaffold. Here alginate is used as the main material for scaffolding. In an attempt to build a scaffold using a bio-printer, pluronic acid was also used as a sacrificial material to create canals.... 

Craniofacial bone defects without scarring are a major clinical issue. These critical defects, which can be caused by infection or fracture, cannot be repaired without surgery. The main goal of skull repair is to protect vulnerable structures such as the brain, or it can be due to the improvement of jaw function and beauty. Tissue engineering can offer a new generation solution. The purpose of this study was to construct and characterise a degradable polymer/ bioceramic composite scaffold with allograft powder used in the craniofacial bone. The complexities of the extracellular matrix of humans can be simulated using 3D bioprinting.In this study, tricalcium silicate (TCS) was first... 

In this work, we have used a 3D printer and unidirectional ice-templating technique in conjunction, to fabricate a novel composite scaffold to facilitate local osteochondral defects tissue regeneration with a cell-free approach. Using ice-templating to induce radially-aligned porosity formation in type I bovine collagen is known to expedite host cells' migration into the scaffold which their ECM secretion shifts cellular milieu toward that of its neighboring tissue layer. We used numerical analysis to design and optimize appropriate freeze-casting mold, finding the optimum value for pin height and metal slab depth to be 4mm and 14mm, respectively. Collagen content equivalent to 2%w/v was...