Bioprinting taurine-incorporated gelatin methacrylate hydrogels for enhanced muscle tissue regeneration

Abstract

Skeletal muscle diseases like myopathies and muscular dystrophies present significant clinical challenges with few effective treatments. To better understand disease mechanisms and accelerate therapy development, robust in vitro muscle models are needed. Extrusion- and light-based bioprinting offer precise fabrication of tissue-like constructs, but designing bioinks that support muscle cell function remains challenging. Here, we report a novel bioink in which Taurine is first methacrylated to synthesize Taurine methacrylate (TMA) enabling covalent integration into gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) networks. We systematically compared GelMA-Taurine (physical blend) versus GelMA-TMA (covalent) hydrogels, assessing mechanical stiffness, swelling behavior, and photocrosslinking kinetics. Incorporating TMA yielded improved crosslinking control, minimized overcure in DLP-printed features, and enhanced shape fidelity. SEM revealed finer pore structures and homogeneous TMA distribution, and release assays confirmed prolonged TMA retention compared to rapidly leaching Taurine. Photopatterning and 3D bioprinting of complex geometries demonstrated excellent printability of the GelMA-TMA bioink. Finally, C2C12 myoblasts encapsulated in GelMA-TMA scaffolds exhibited accelerated differentiation, increased myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression, and more extensive myotube formation than controls. Intracellular Ca2+ imaging further demonstrated stronger receptor-mediated calcium signaling in TMA-containing constructs, suggesting improved functional maturation of C2C12-derived myotubes. Together, these results establish GelMA-TMA as a bioprintable, mechanically tunable, and biologically active platform for engineering skeletal muscle tissue in disease modeling and regenerative applications. © 2026 The Authors