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Microfluidic Bioprinting for Engineering Vascularized Tissues and Organoids
Published on: August 11, 2017
Mechanical engineering of hair follicle regeneration by in situ bioprinting
Haiyan Chen1, Yi Zhang2, Dezhi Zhou3
1The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, People's Republic of China; Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China; East China Institute of Digital Medical Engineering, Shangrao 334000, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Hair loss caused by various factors such as trauma, stress, and diseases hurts patient psychology and seriously affects patients' quality of life, but there is no effective method to control it. In situ bioprinting is a method for printing bioinks directly into defective sites according to the shape and characteristics of the defective tissue or organ to promote tissue or organ repair. In this study, we applied a 3D bioprinting machine in situ bioprinting of epidermal stem cells (Epi-SCs), skin-derived precursors (SKPs), and Matrigel into the wounds of nude mice to promote hair follicle regeneration based on their native microenvironment. The results showed successful regeneration of hair follicles and other skin appendages at 4 weeks after in situ bioprinting. Moreover, we confirmed that bioprinting only slightly decreased stem cell viability and maintained the stemness of the stem cells. These findings demonstrated a mechanical engineering method for hair follicle regeneration by in situ bioprinting which has potential in the clinic.

