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Updated: Jul 5, 2026
Human Cartilage Tissue Fabrication Using Three-dimensional Inkjet Printing Technology
Published on: June 10, 2014
DLP bioprinting of cartilage organoid-laden bioinks yields high-fidelity auricular constructs with enhanced
Yuxuan Chen1,2, Yifan Zhang1,2, Pengxiang Luo3
1Department of Plastic Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, People's Republic of China.
Purpose:
To develop and validate a cartilage organoid (CO)-laden digital light processing (DLP) bioprinting strategy for auricular reconstruction and to compare its performance with conventional chondrocyte-laden prints.
Materials And Methods:
Rat bone-marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) were aggregated into spheroid and chondrogenically induced to form CO. Organoid construction and characterization included EdU proliferation assay, CD73/CD90 immunofluorescence (IF), and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of chondrogenic genes. O-nitrobenzyl functionalized gelatin (GelNB)/ methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HAMA) bioinks were screened by gross morphology, tensile/ compressive mechanics, enzymatic degradability (0.1% collagenase II), and swelling, identifying 10% (w/v) GelNB + 1% (w/v) HAMA as the working bioink. Full-scale ears were DLP-printed from acellular, chondrocyte-laden, or CO-laden inks. In vitro, whole-mount Live/Dead imaging was performed at 7/14/21 days and qPCR quantified COL2A1, aggrecan (ACAN), COL10A1. In vivo, constructs were implanted subcutaneously in nude mice and analyzed at 4/8 weeks by Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), Safranin O/Fast Green, ACAN and COL II IHC staining, and compressive Young's modulus measurement on implants.
Results:
The 10% GelNB + 1% HAMA ink balanced print fidelity, mechanical robustness, and controlled degradability. Loading CO did not impair printability. During 21-day culture, viability remained high; at day 21, CO-laden ears showed higher COL2A1/ACAN and lower COL10A1 than chondrocyte-laden controls. After implantation, CO-laden explants exhibited more abundant lacuna-like cartilage morphology, stronger ACAN and COL II staining, increased EVG-positive elastic fiber-associated matrix, and a higher compressive Young's modulus at 8 weeks.
Conclusions:
CO-laden DLP bioprinting enhances chondrogenesis and mitigates hypertrophy versus chondrocyte-laden printing, offering an exploratory high-fidelity strategy for auricular cartilage-like tissue engineering rather than definitive mature elastic cartilage regeneration.
