LAUSR

Abstract 3D bioprinting is a rapidly emerging technology to manufacture biological tissue constructs that more closely recapitulate physiological features of native tissue, and thus facilitates innovative research directions to revolutionize the fundamental understanding and practical technology in biomaterials and biomedical science. 3D bioprinting enables precise deposition of cell-laden bioinks to fabricate geometrically intricate 3D biomimetic tissue constructs in a fast and scalable fashion. In the past decade, rapid development has been made to expand the bioink toolbox for 3D bioprinting applications, however, bioink development remains one of the bottlenecks in the field. Biomimetic nanofibrillar hydrogels can reproduce the filamentous feature and properties of extracellular matrices, and thus can function as bioinks to fabricate biomimetic tissue constructs by 3D bioprinting. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review on current progress in biomimetic bioinks based on nanofibrillar polymeric hydrogel. We summarize the design and synthesis of biomimetic nanofibrillar hydrogels from various of building blocks, and discuss the fundamentals on design criteria of biomimetic bioinks based on nanofibrillar polymeric hydrogels. We review the current progress of biomimetic bioinks based on nanofibrillar hydrogels that are made from natural, synthetic, hybrid, or nanocomposite polymers. We conclude with the current challenges and future prospects on the development of biomimetic bioinks, and a discussion on how biomimetic bioinks can promote the translation of bioprinted therapies and drive further innovation within the field of 3D bioprinting.