Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
Direct Bioprinting of 3D Multicellular Breast Spheroids onto Endothelial Networks
Published on: November 2, 2020
Organoid bioprinting for vascularized tumor assembloids.
Zhenzhen Zhou1, Yuan Pang1, Zhendong Liao1
1Biomanufacturing and Rapid Forming Technology Key Laboratory of Beijing Institute for Intelligent Healthcare, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing Technology, Ministry of Education, Biomanufacturing Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Researchers developed vascularized tumor assembloids (VTASs) for better cancer models. These advanced models show more realistic drug responses and immune interactions, aiding cancer research.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Biotechnology
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Tumor microenvironment complexity impacts cancer progression and treatment.
- Physiologically relevant in vitro models are crucial for accurate cancer research.
- Existing models often fail to fully replicate the intricate tumor microenvironment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate vascularized tumor assembloids (VTASs) as a novel in vitro cancer model.
- To assess the utility of VTASs in drug screening and studying immune cell interactions.
- To evaluate the in vivo translation of VTASs for recapitulating human cancer features.
Main Methods:
- Organoid bioprinting to construct VTASs using endothelialized hepatic tumor aggregates and endothelial cells.
- Characterization of VTASs for tissue architecture, vascularization, and hepatic function.
- Drug screening assays with various anticancer agents (cisplatin, sorafenib, doxorubicin) to evaluate drug response and accumulation.
- Co-culture experiments with immune cells to study inflammatory responses and monocyte-endothelial interactions.
- In vivo implantation of VTASs to assess their ability to form perfused, tumorlike structures.
Main Results:
- VTASs successfully recapitulated dense, volumetric, and hierarchical tissue architectures with functional vasculature.
- VTASs exhibited reduced apoptosis and delayed intracellular drug accumulation compared to simpler models, indicating differential drug responses.
- Monocyte-endothelial interactions were observed under inflammatory conditions in co-culture experiments.
- Implanted VTASs formed perfused tumorlike structures in vivo, mirroring human cancer histology and function.
Conclusions:
- VTASs represent a scalable and physiologically relevant platform for advanced cancer research.
- This model enhances the study of tumor biology, including complex immune interactions.
- VTASs facilitate high-throughput anticancer drug evaluation with improved predictive accuracy.
