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Bioprinting Cellularized Constructs Using a Tissue-specific Hydrogel Bioink
Published on: April 21, 2016
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Tissue strands as "bioink" for scale-up organ printing
Summary
Researchers developed a novel micro-fabrication technique to create tissue strands for organ printing. These "bioink" strands show promise for scale-up tissue fabrication with high cell viability and fusion capabilities.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Regenerative Medicine
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Organ printing utilizes tissue spheroids and additive manufacturing for tissue replacement.
- Current cell aggregation techniques show success, but scale-up applications using spheroids require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel micro-fabrication technique for creating tissue strands.
- To evaluate these tissue strands as a "bioink" for robotic tissue printing and scale-up fabrication.
Main Methods:
- Developed printable alginate micro-conduits as semi-permeable capsules for tissue strand fabrication.
- Formed mouse insulinoma beta TC3 cell tissue strands (500-700μm).
- Investigated strand fusion and co-deposition with human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells (HUVSMCs) for vascularization.
Main Results:
- Tissue strands exhibited reasonable mechanical strength and high cell viability (approx. 90%) after 4 days.
- Successful fusion between strands was observed as early as 24 hours.
- Fabricated a miniature pancreatic tissue analog by co-depositing tissue strands with HUVSMCs vascular conduits.
Conclusions:
- Introduced a novel technique for generating tissue strands as a "bioink" for bioprinting.
- Demonstrated the potential of this method for scale-up tissue and organ fabrication.
- Highlighted the feasibility of creating vascularized tissue analogs using this approach.
