AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ijb.3346
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

3D-bioprinted gelatin methacryloyl hydrogel culture system emulating the oviduct environment for enhanced preimplantation embryo development

Yun Dong Koo1 ,  Min-Hee Kang1,2 ,  Dahong Kim3,4 ,  Min Jeong Cho1,2 ,  Yu Jin Kim1 ,  JuYi Jang1 ,  Seon Ju Yeo3 ,  Geehong Kim3 ,  Su A Park3* ,  Jae Ho Lee1,2*
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1 Department of Biomedical Science, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pocheon, Gyeonggi, South Korea
2 CHA Fertility Center, Seoul Station, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea
3 Nano-Convergence Manufacturing Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), Yuseong District, Daejeon, South Korea
4 Department of Applied Bioengineering, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Gwanak District, Seoul, South Korea
IJB 2024, 10(4), 3346 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijb.3346
Submitted: 2 April 2024 | Accepted: 28 May 2024 | Published: 22 July 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D printing of bioinspired materials)
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Oviducts have specific biomechanical properties that support fertilization and preimplantation embryo development, both of which are essential for successful pregnancy. However, conventional plastic-based human embryo culture does not recapitulate the biomechanical environment of the oviduct. Therefore, oviduct mimic culture systems that accurately emulate biophysical conditions for reproductive cells are a significant unmet clinical need. In the present study, we designed a three-dimensional (3D)-bioprinted optimal soft hydrogel system that accurately mimics the oviduct environment and investigated signaling factors during embryo development. We developed an oviduct tube-mimic hydrogel culture dish using gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) 3D-bioprinted hydrogel. Quantitative assessment of hydrogel mechanical properties depended on the stiffness of the GelMA 3D-bioprinted hydrogel. Embryo quality was evaluated based on cleavage speed and blastocyst ratio on the GelMA hydrogel. Whole-transcriptome next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of embryos was used to identify biomechanical signaling factors. Our findings revealed that 10 kPa GelMA hydrogel culture conditions performed better with respect to development speed, blastocyst ratio, and hatching ratio than the control condition. Whole transcriptome NGS revealed up-regulation of mRNA processing genes and protein transport genes by the 7 and 10 kPa hydrogels. Furthermore, the inner cell mass and the number of Oct4+ cells were significantly higher in blastocysts cultured on 10 kPa hydrogel dishes than in those cultured on conventional hard plastic dishes. These findings demonstrate that optimized oviduct-mimic hydrogel-based 3D GelMA culture dishes could improve in vitro embryo development. Hence, 3D GelMA culture dishes may be useful as human embryo culture systems for assisted reproductive techniques.

Keywords
Oviduct
3D bioprinting
Mechanical property
RNA sequencing
Hydrogel
Funding
This research was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (2019R1A2C1086882), the Korean Health Technology R&D Project (HI21C1713), and the Next-generation Intelligence Semiconductor Foundation (20023549) funded by the Ministry of the Trade Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing
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