Hyaluronic acid as a (bio)ink for extrusion-based 3D printing.

Biofabrication is enriching the tissue engineering field with new ways for producing structurally organized complex tissues. Among the numerous (bio)inks under investigation, hyaluronic acid (HA) and its derivatives stand out for their biological relevance, cytocompatibility, shear-thinning properties and possibility to fine-tune the desired properties with chemical modification. In this paper, we review the recent advances on (bio)inks containing HA. The available literature is presented based on subjects including: rheological properties in connection with printability, the chemical strategies for endowing HA the desired properties, the clinical application investigated, the most advanced preclinical studies, advantages and limitations in comparison with similar biopolymer-based (bio)inks and future perspectives.