Digitally Driven Aerosol Jet Printing to Enable Customisable Neuronal Guidance.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Digitally driven manufacturing, like aerosol jet printing (AJP), offers advanced capabilities for tissue engineering, disease modeling, and drug screening.
• AJP is a versatile, high-resolution, mask-less printing technology suitable for depositing various materials onto diverse surfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the ability of AJP to create digitally controlled patterns for neuronal guidance.
• To investigate the influence of patterned poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) tracks on neuronal cell behavior.

Main Methods:

• Utilized aerosol jet printing (AJP) to deposit patterned PEDOT:PSS tracks on glass and poly(potassium 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate) (PKSPMA) coated glass surfaces.
• Characterized the physical properties of the printed patterns (height, width, surface roughness).
• Cultured SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells on the patterned substrates to assess adhesion, growth, and alignment.

Main Results:

• Printed PEDOT:PSS tracks (≥0.2 μm height, ≥15 μm width) promoted selective adhesion and alignment of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.
• The biocompatible PEDOT:PSS ink supported neuronal cell adhesion, growth, and differentiation.
• Selective cell adhesion on PKSPMA coated surfaces resulted in highly organized neural patterns.

Conclusions:

• AJP enables rapid and flexible fabrication of intricate and accurate cell patterns.
• Patterned biomaterials can effectively guide neuronal cell behavior for tissue engineering applications.
• This technology holds promise for advancing in vitro models for drug screening and disease research.