Research

Overview

Bioadhesives/Sealants

Elastin-based Biomaterials

Conductive Hydrogels

Drug/Protien/Gene Delivery

Microfabrication

Microfabrication

In our lab, we leverage the power of microfabrication technology, including electrospinning, 3D printing, and micro-molding to create biomaterials in unique structures.

Electrospinning

In tissue engineering, cells are often combined with hydrogel-based scaffolds to support and guide cell growth. These scaffolds are designed to closely mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) and provide a native-like environment for the cells. The ECM contains high levels of proteins, including fibrous structures such as collagen and elastin. Electrospinning is commonly used to replicate these fibers. In this process, a hydrogel prepolymer solution is loaded into a syringe and extruded onto a collector platform under high voltage, which induces fiber formation. By adjusting the electrospinning parameters such as voltage, flow rate, needle-collector distance, and polymer concentration, we can adjust the fiber diameter. In addition, we developed a mandrel setup in the lab that allows us to generate aligned fibers to promote the growth of cell lines that benefit from alignment, such as smooth muscle cells. Current projects utilizing this technology in the lab include the development of multilayered urethral tissue constructs.

3D Bioprinting

Tissue and organ damage vary significantly between patients, making personalized solutions essential for effective repair. Bioprinting enables the precise, layer-by-layer deposition of bioinks to create complex, customized 3D structures, offering a promising approach to developing tailored constructs for tissue regeneration. The Annabi Lab is equipped with two advanced extrusion-based bioprinters, including a three-nozzle printer capable of simultaneously printing multiple materials in a single construct. This setup allows the creation of intricate structures with gradient mechanical properties and cell distributions. Current projects in the lab focus on engineering multi-layered complex tissue constructs such as urethral tissues as well as engineering constructs

Lab Members Working on this field: Tess De Maeseneer, Arpita Roy, Ronak Afshari, Fang Zhou, Daren Zhou, Gayatri Patel

Related Articles:

1. Daniel Booth, Ronak Afshari, Mahsa Ghovvati, Kaavian Shariati, Renea Sturm, Nasim Annabi. Advances in 3D bioprinting for urethral tissue reconstruction. Trends in Biotechnology 2024. Advances in 3D bioprinting for urethral tissue reconstruction – ScienceDirect
2. Sohyung Lee, Ehsan Shirzaei Sani, Andrew R Spencer, Yvonne Guan, Anthony S Weiss, Nasim Annabi. Human‐recombinant‐Elastin‐based bioinks for 3D bioprinting of vascularized soft tissues. Advanced materials 2020. Human‐Recombinant‐Elastin‐Based Bioinks for 3D Bioprinting of Vascularized Soft Tissues – Lee – 2020 – Advanced Materials – Wiley Online Library
3. Andrew R Spencer, Ehsan Shirzaei Sani, Jonathan R Soucy, Carolyn C Corbet, Asel Primbetova, Ryan A Koppes, Nasim Annabi. Bioprinting of a cell-laden conductive hydrogel composite. ACS applied materials & interfaces 2019. Bioprinting of a Cell-Laden Conductive Hydrogel Composite | ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
4. N. Zandi, E. Shirzaei Sani, E. Mostafavi, D.M. Ibrahim, B. Saleh, M. A. Shokrgozar, E. Tamjid, P.S. Weiss, A. Simchi, N. Annabi. Nanoengineered shear-thinning and bioprintable hydrogel as a versatile platform for biomedical applications. Biomaterials 2021. Nanoengineered shear-thinning and bioprintable hydrogel as a versatile platform for biomedical applications – ScienceDirect