Korean Amberjack Skin-Inspired Hyaluronic Acid Bioink for Reconstruction of Human Skin

Decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) has been extensivelyemployed as tissue engineering scaffolds because its components cangreatly enhance the migration and proliferation of cultivating cells.In this study, we decellularized Korean amberjack skin and incorporatedsoluble fractions in hyaluronic acid hydrogels with 3D-printed tissueengineering hydrogels to overcome any limitation of animal-deriveddECM. The hydrolyzed fish-dECM was mixed with methacrylated hyaluronicacid and chemically crosslinked to 3D-printed fish-dECM hydrogels,where fish-dECM contents affected both printability and injectabilityof the hydrogels. Swelling ratios and mass erosion of the 3D-printedhydrogels were dependent on fish-dECM contents, where higher fish-dECMin the hydrogel increased swelling ratios and mass erosion rates.The higher content of fish-dECM considerably enhanced the viabilityof the incorporated cells in the matrix for 7 days. Artificial humanskin was constructed by seeding human dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytesin the 3D-printed hydrogels, and a formation of a bilayered skin wasvisualized with tissue staining. Thus, we envision that 3D-printedhydrogels containing fish-dECM can be an alternative bioink composedof a non-mammal-derived matrix.