The integration of advanced biomaterials with 3D bioprinting technology holds considerable potential for bioengineering highly tunable, functional tissue and organ analogues that could be utilized in addressing some key challenges in regenerative medicine therapies, as well as in a variety of in vitro human disease modeling, drug screening, and therapeutic development efforts. Ongoing advancements in the field necessitate design and development of a new generation of biomaterials and bioprinting approaches capable of substantially enhancing the biological, physiomechanical, and chemical properties of engineered scaffolds. Hydrogels and hydrogel-based biomaterials, as integral bioink components, create a biomimetic microenvironment that is supportive of viability and function of a variety of cells within bioprinted constructs. This Special Issue aims to collect high-quality original research and review articles that report on developing, characterizing, and evaluating cutting-edge hydrogel-based biomaterials and associated biomanufacturing technologies to create tissue engineered constructs and devices for broad applications in biomedical engineering. It will explore the most important questions and topics in the fields of soft/naturally derived biomaterials and tissue bioprinting. The topics include, but are not limited to:

★ Hydrogel-based bioinks synthesis and characterization

★ Advanced biomanufacturing and 3D bioprinting methods

★ Cell-ECM interactions in bioprinted hydrogel-based constructs

★ In vitro disease modeling and drug screening via hydrogel-based bioprinted platforms

★ In vivo therapeutic applications of bioprinted hydrogel scaffolds

★ Advanced bioimaging and tracking of hydrogel-based bioprints

Keywords: Hydrogel biomaterials, 3D bioprinting, additive biomanufacturing, naturally derived polymers, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine