Digital Light Processing Printable, Photopolymerizable, and Electroconductive Bioink Derived from Human Cardiac Decellularized Extracellular Matrix

All articles of this category (opens in new window) Background: Engineering patient-specific, functional cardiac patches that mimic the native heart’s mechanical and electrophysiological properties remains a pivotal challenge in cardiovascular tissue engineering. While decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) offers ideal biocompatibility, its poor mechanical strength and lack of electroconductivity have limited its application in precise 3D bioprinting for load-bearing cardiac tissues. This study aimed to develop a novel, photopolymerizable, and electroconductive bioink derived from human cardiac dECM to enable the fabrication of complex, functional cardiac patches using high-resolution digital light processing (DLP) bioprinting. Methods: Human ventricular myocardial tissues obtained from heart transplant patients were efficiently decellularized via a detergent-based decellularization protocol. The resulting dECM was methacrylated to enable photopolymerization and covalently linked to graphene oxide (GO) to confer electroconductivity. The bioink’s printability was validated using a DLP bioprinter to fabricate patient-specific, cell-laden patches for cardiovascular applications. Its in vitro capability was assessed with human primary valvular endothelial (VEC) and interstitial (VIC) cells’ bioprintability, as well as by measuring the scaffold’s swelling ratio. Results: We successfully decellularized human cardiac tissue (dsDNA: 5 ± 0.23 ng/mg) and synthesized a novel photopolymerizable dECM-GO bioink while preserving key dECM components, including collagen (90 ± 2.8%), elastin (60 ± 4.6%), and sulfated glycosaminoglycans (89 ± 1.1%). The modified dECM exhibited excellent structural stability and crosslinking capability, as demonstrated by enzymatic digestion assays and a 40% degree of methacrylation (confirmed via 1 H-NMR and TNBS assay), respectively. Furthermore, the bioink was precisely printed into complex, cell-laden architectures using a DLP platform. The resulting cell-laden patches exhibited even distributions of both VEC and VIC. Conclusion: We present the first demonstration of a DLP-printable, electroconductive bioink derived entirely from human cardiac dECM. This platform technology overcomes critical limitations of natural hydrogels, enabling the precise fabrication of biomimetic, functional cardiac tissue substitutes with high biological fidelity. This represents a significant leap toward the clinical translation of personalized, off-the-shelf patches for myocardial repair and regenerative cardiology. Publication History Article published online: 17 February 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany