A Mucin-Based Bio-Ink for 3D Printing of Objects with Anti-Biofouling Properties

With its potential to revolutionize the field of personalized medicine by producing customized medical devices and constructs for tissue engineering at low costs, 3D printing has emerged as a highly promising technology. Recent advancements have sparked increasing interest in the printing of biopolymeric hydrogels. However, owing to the limited printability of those soft materials, the lack of variability in available bio-inks remains a major challenge. In this study, a novel bio-ink is developed based on functionalized mucin—a glycoprotein that exhibits a multitude of biomedically interesting properties such as immunomodulating activity and strong anti-biofouling behavior. To achieve sufficient printability of the mucin-based ink, its rheological properties are tuned by incorporating Laponite XLG as a stabilizing agent. It is shown that cured objects generated from this novel bio-ink exhibit mechanical properties partially similar to that of soft tissue, show strong anti-biofouling properties, good biocompatibility, tunable cell adhesion, and immunomodulating behavior. The presented findings suggest that this 3D printable bio-ink has a great potential for a wide range of biomedical applications, including tissue engineering, wound healing, and soft robotics.