Generation of genipin cross-linked fibrin-agarose hydrogel tissue-like models for tissue engineering applications Campos Sánchez, Fernando Bonhome Espinosa, Ana Belén Vizcaíno, G Rodríguez, IA Durán-Herrera, D López López, Modesto Torcuato Sánchez-Montesinos García, Indalecio Alaminos Mingorance, Miguel Sánchez Quevedo, María del Carmen Carriel Araya, Víctor Tissue Engineering Nanostructuration technique Genipin Cross-linking Fibrin-agarose Hydrogels Cell-biomaterials interactions Rheology Generation of biomimetic and biocompatible artificial tissues is the basic research objective for tissue engineering (TE). In this sense, the biofabrication of scaffolds that resemble the tissues’ extracellular matrix (ECM) is an essential aim in this field. Uncompressed and nanostructured fibrin-agarose hydrogels (FAH and NFAH respectively) emerged as promising scaffold in TE, but its structure and biomechanical properties must be improved in order to broad their TE applications. Here we generated and characterized novel membranelike models with increased structural and biomechanical properties based on the chemical cross-linking of FAH and NFAH with genipin (GP at 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75%). Furthermore, scaffolds were subjected to rheological (G, G’, G” modulus), ultrastructural and ex vivo biocompatibility analyses. Results showed that all GP concentrations increased the stiffness (G) and especially the elasticity (G’) of FAH and NFAH. Ultrastructural analyses demonstrated that GP and nanostructuration of FAH allowed controlling the porosity of FAH. In addition, biological studies revealed that higher concentration of GP significantly decreased the cell viability. Finally, this study demonstrated the possibility to generate natural FAH and NFAH with improved structural and biomechanical properties by using GP. However, further in vivo studies are needed in order to demonstrate the biocompatibility, biodegradability and regeneration capability of these cross-linked scaffolds. 2024-03-06T07:58:22Z 2024-03-06T07:58:22Z 2018-02 journal article Campos F, Bonhome-Espinosa AB, Vizcaino G, Rodriguez IA, Duran-Herrera D, López-López MT, Sánchez-Montesinos I, Alaminos M, Sánchez-Quevedo MC, Carriel V. Generation of genipin cross-linked fibrin-agarose hydrogel tissue-like models for tissue engineering applications. Biomed Mater. 2018 Feb 8;13(2):025021. doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/aa9ad2 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/89813 10.1088/1748-605X/aa9ad2 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional