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BACKGROUND: Construction of tissue engineering vascular structures is a key to the regeneration of complex tissues and organs. The use of three-dimensional printing technology to construct vascular structures has become a hotspot. OBJECTIVE: A highly connected and perfusable vascular network was rapidly deposited by a three-dimensional bioprinter with a coaxial nozzle using alginate/silk fibroin bioink. METHODS: A mixed solution containing 5% sodium alginate and 5% silk fibroin as the bio-ink, and a mixed solution containing 5% calcium chloride and 13% F127 as the crosslinker, alginate/silk fibroin gel was printed using a bio-printer and subjected to optical coherence tomography and scanning electron microscopy. The solution containing 5% sodium alginate and 5% silk fibroin mixed with the suspension of human liver cancer cells (C3A) as the bio-ink, and a mixed solution containing 5% calcium chloride and 13% F127 as the crosslinker, the cell-containing sodium alginate/silk fibroin gel was printed on a bio-printer. Then, the printed scaffold was placed in the medium for 24 hours, and then stained by Calcein-AM and observed under a fluorescence microscope. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Optical coherence tomography: a multi-layer composite hollow tube network formed the structure of the scaffold. The gel filament had a complete hollow structure, and the channels were interconnected. The structure was similar to the hollow passage of the blood vessel, which was beneficial to the transportation of nutrients and metabolic waste. (2) Scanning electron microscope: the hollow pipe structure with the diameter of about 400 μm arranged in parallel, and the pipe boundaries were clear. The microporous structure caused by the removal of F127 was formed between the boundaries. (3) Fluorescence microscope: the cells were evenly dispersed in the material on both sides of the channel, and the cells grew well in the scaffold with the survival rate of above 95%. (4) These results suggest that three-dimensional bioprinting technology based on coaxial nozzles and sodium alginate/silk fibroin bio-ink can be used to construct vascularized functional tissues in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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