Figure 1.

Schematic overview of the experimental design for the fabrication and in vitro analysis of bacteriostatic 3D scaffold systems

(A–E) A CAD model of the 3D geometry of interest was designed (A) and bioprinted (B) using various GelMA bioinks containing 0 (control), 100, 200, and 500 μg/mL of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) to create the 3D scaffolds (C). Bioprinted scaffolds were assessed for printing fidelity, mechanical, and MR imaging properties (D), and seeded with human cells (fluorescently tagged endothelial cells) and/or bacteria (luminescent Staphylococcus aureus) (E) for the in vitro 3D culture assays.

(F) The time line for the in vitro culture assays. Constructs were cultured either for 5 days (bacteria and human cell coculture) or 14 days (endothelial cell culture) and examined via AlamarBlue and imaging techniques. In panel (F), gray color represents the experimental steps for both bacteria and cell culture assays; brown: steps for the bacteria assays; and green: steps for the endothelial cell culture