The techniques involved in culturing cells are critical as results are based on cellular response to drugs, cellular cues, external stimuli, and human physiology. In order to establish in vitro cultures, cells are either isolated from normal or diseased tissue and allowed to grow in two or three dimensions. Two-dimensional (2D) cell culture methods involve the proliferation of cells on flat rigid surfaces resulting in a monolayer culture, while in three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures, the additional dimension provides a more accurate representation of the tissue milieu.
Biomaterial | Type | Pros | Cons | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Collagen | Natural | High biocompatibility, biodegradable, high cell adhesion, and cell remodeling. Has high printability, is biocompatible, low immunogenicity | Poor mechanical properties, unpredictable degradation in vivo, high thrombogenic potential | [44] |
Gelatin | Natural | Cheap, biocompatible, easy to modify, good proliferation, biodegradable | Brittleness, low mechanical properties, fast degradation | [45] |
Chitosan | Natural | Biocompatible, biodegradable, high cell proliferation | Lower mechanical properties, immunogenic | [46] |
Fibrin | Natural | High cell adhesion and viability, quick gelation and good cell migration, and vascularization | low printability, biocompatibility, low mechanical strength | [47] |
Hyaluronic Acid | Natural | Biocompatible, biodegradable, high cell proliferation and viability, high printability | low mechanical strength | [48] |
Alginate | Natural | Biocompatible, biodegradable, sustained release, adoptable mechanical strength with cell growth, rapid gelation | low cell adhesion | [49] |
Pectin | Natural | Cheap, biocompatible, can be modified, plant derived, good cell proliferation, biodegradable | Poor mechanical properties, Slower gelation time | [50] |
Decellularized ECM |
Natural | Keeps vasculature network intact | Variation caused by different decellularization methods, | [51] |
Starch | Natural | Cheap, biocompatible, versatile rheology, | Poor mechanical properties, slower gelation time, needs high temperature (70–90 °C) to gelatinize, at higher temperatures, phase separation between composite materials may occur | [52] |
Fucoidan | Natural | Good bioactive properties, biocompatible, biodegradable, used to enhance properties of other natural biomaterials | Does not gel on its own, crosslinking strategies need to be optimized, high synthesis cost | [53] |
Silk Fibroin | Natural | Biocompatible, good mechanical properties | High cost of production, | [54] |
Hydroxyapatite | Natural/Synthetic Synthesis | Bioactive, biocompatible, hydrophilic, | brittleness, low tensile strength and fracture toughness | [55][56] |
Polycaprolactone (PCL) | Synthetic | Moderate mechanical strength. Biocompatible | Slow degradation, lower cell adhesion/aggregation, hydrophobic, inflammation due to acid degradation products | [57] |
Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA) | Synthetic | Biocompatible, biodegradable, immunogenic | Brittle and relatively hard, lower cell adhesion/aggregation, inflammation due to acid degradation products | [58] |
Poly(itaconate-co-citrate-cooctanediol) (PICO) | Synthetic | Biocompatible, biodegradable, cheap, good mechanical properties, fast crosslinking, non-cytotoxic to cells | UV cross linking | [59] |
Poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) |
Synthetic | Biocompatible, biodegradable, can be modified with various functional groups | Moderate mechanical strength, low printability, difficulty in scalability, Lower cell adhesion | [49] |
Polyphosphazenes | Synthetic | Biocompatible, good mechanical properties, slow degradation (hard tissues) | Slow degradation (soft tissues) | [54][60] |
Polyurethanes | Synthetic | Good mechanical properties, good rheological properties | Poor degradability, copolymerization is required | [61] |
Polyanhydrides | Synthetic | Good flexibility, controllable degradation rates | Weak mechanical properties | [61] |
Poly(propelene-fumarate) | Synthetic | Good processability, good ductility, biocompatibility, easily forms covalent polymer networks | Challenging to handle the material due to high viscosity, increased cytotoxicity and acute inflammation, variation in molecular weight between crosslinking agents | [62][63] |
Metals | Synthetic | Biocompatible with good mechanical properties, low degradability (Tissue dependent) | Subject to oxidation, low degradability (Tissue dependent), may be cytotoxic due to release of free metal ions | [64] |
Ceramics | Synthetic | Osteoinductive and osteoconductive in bioactive ceramics, low toxicity, biocompatible, angiogenetic potential, | High brittleness, weak, low bioactivity | [64] |
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/ijms24031912