Mechanosensitive Cell‐Laden Shape‐Memory Scaffolds Engineered via Cryogelation

Although cell‐free shape‐memory scaffolds (SMS) have shown potential for minimally invasive tissue regeneration, the fabrication of cell‐laden SMSs remains a major challenge. This study proposes a cryopreservable cell‐laden gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)‐based SMS fabricated via a cryogelation process using dimethyl sulfoxide as a cryoprotectant. This process enabled the cell‐laden construct to achieve finely tunable porosity, rapid shape recovery, and high preservation of stem cell viability. To demonstrate the feasibility of SMSs as cell‐laden constructs for tissue engineering applications, human adipose‐derived stem cells are encapsulated within these scaffolds. Under cyclic compressive strain, these constructs effectively transmitted mechanical cues to the embedded cells, as evidenced by the upregulated expression of mechanotransduction‐related genes, including WNT , PIEZO1 , TRPV2 , and YAP/TAZ . The fabrication strategy is further extended to extracellular matrix (ECM)‐based composite bioinks, such as hASC‐laden collagen/GelMA and decellularized ECM/GelMA formulations, both of which exhibited robust shape‐memory properties while maintaining high cell viability. Collectively, these results demonstrate the potential of cell‐laden SMSs in conjunction with tissue‐specific mechanical stimulation as a promising platform for the development of injectable and efficacious constructs in regenerative tissue engineering.