From the bee's knees to biotechnology: Resilin-based hydrogels for cell-culture and bioprinting

水凝胶是细胞培养和组织工程中最有前途的材料。虽然水凝胶的生物相容性和可降解性对于细胞培养至关重要，但机械性能对细胞分化具有显著影响。因此，具有良好控制和可定制的机械性能的水凝胶系统受到高度追捧。本研究将探讨弹性蛋白在水凝胶制造中作为细胞生长环境的应用，最终目的是实现组织工程。Resilin具有显著的特性（作为弹性体，它实际上是蜜蜂的膝盖），这有助于引入广泛的机械特性以及交联化学，例如通过可见光下的氮化碳。此外，该项目将利用模块化方法向水凝胶中引入更多功能，以促进细胞生长。总的来说，该项目将产生新的强大的“可调”凝胶，将解决现有细胞培养基的许多缺点，并将代表研究中动物源性材料的现实替代品。

Hydrogels belong to the most promising materials for cell-culture and tissue engineering. While biocompatibility and degradability of hydrogels are vital for use in cell-culture, mechanical properties have a significant impact on the cell differentiation. Therefore, hydrogel systems with well-controlled and tailorable mechanical properties are highly sought after. The present project will investigate the use of resilin in hydrogel fabrication as an environment for cell-growth with the ultimate goal of tissue engineering. Resilin has remarkable properties (as an elastomer it is literally the bee's knees), which facilitates the introduction of a broad range of mechanical properties together with crosslinking chemistry, e.g. via carbon nitride in the visible light. Moreover, the project will make use of a modular approach to introduce further functions into the hydrogels in order to enhance cell-growth. Overall, the project will give rise to new robust 'tuneable' gels that will address many of the shortcomings of existing cell culture media and will represent realistic alternatives to animal derived materials in research.