Journal: Bioactive Materials
Article Title: Anisotropic mechanotransductive tissue constructs via brush-assisted bioprinting of microfiber-reinforced composite bioinks
doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2025.12.017
Figure Lengend Snippet: Comparative analysis of conventional and brush-assisted bioprinting on cellular behavior. (a) Schematic illustration of shear stress distribution in normal versus brush-assisted printing. (b) Overview of the brush-assisted printing setup. (c) SEM images of collagen fibrils and fluorescence images showing cell viability (live/dead) and cytoskeletal organization (DAPI/phalloidin) of C2C12 myoblasts. Quantification of (d) cell viability post-printing (n = 4), (e) cell metabolic activity (MTT assay, in situ /day 3/day 7, n = 4), (f) nuclei aspect ratio (n = 180), (g) orientation factor (n = 3), and (h) F-actin–positive area at day 3 (n = 10). (i) Comparing normal and brush-assisted printing the mechanotransduction pathways activated by shear stress and collagen alignment. (j) Heatmap of relative gene expression ( YAP, TAZ, AKT1, PIEZO1, PI3K, and CAPN2 ) after 7 days of culture (n = 4). (k) Agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products from cells cultured on normal versus brush-printed scaffolds for 7 days. (l) Schematic illustration of blocking mechano-sensing ion channel with GsMTx-4. (m) Relative gene expression levels associated with mechanosensing channel and ca 2+ pathway (n = 5), (n) Hippo pathway (n = 5), (o) PI3K-AKT pathway (n = 5). Student's t-test was applied for two-group comparisons, and one-way ANOVA with Tukey's HSD post-hoc test was used for multiple comparisons. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 (∗), p < 0.01 (∗∗), and p < 0.001 (∗∗∗). Abbreviation: MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (cell metabolic activity assay); F-actin, Filamentous actin; PI3K , Phosphoinositide 3-kinase; CAPN2 , Calcium-activated neutral protease 2.
Article Snippet: H9C2 cardiomyoblasts (Korean Cell Line Bank, Seoul, Korea) and C2C12 murine skeletal muscle myoblasts (CRL-1772, ATCC, Manassas, USA) were cultured in high-glucose DMEM (Welgene, Korea) supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1 % penicillin–streptomycin (PS).
Techniques: Shear, Fluorescence, Activity Assay, MTT Assay, In Situ, Gene Expression, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis, Cell Culture, Blocking Assay, Standard Deviation, Metabolic Assay