Our understanding of human development beyond implantation has been historically limited by the lack of suitable in vitro models. I will present our lab’s work on developing advanced stem cell-based systems that model post-implantation stages without the use of intact human embryos. Building on knowledge gained from early developmental biology, we have assembled stem cell populations...
Introduction
Two main technologies of Biofabrication are bioprinting and scaffold generation. [1] Bioprinting can be used with cells in the matrix, while scaffold generation is cell-free and cells are attached afterwards. Both have their distinct advantages, e.g. bioprinting enables the generation of complex tissue hierarchies in one step, while scaffolds can guide cell elongation via...
Introduction
Breast cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide [1,2]. Conventional 2D cultures and animal models fall short in accurately replicating the breast tumor microenvironment, often lacking translational relevance [3]. The development of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro models through hydrogel-based bioprinting offers a promising...
Introduction
One of the most significant challenges in organ bioengineering is developing functional vascular networks. Proper vascularization is critical for transporting oxygen, nutrients, and signaling molecules, while also removing waste. In bionic organs, poor vessel formation limits nutrient exchange and cell migration, reducing transplant quality and long-term survival [1], [2]. The...
Introduction
Depression affects over 350 million individuals globally, with 20–30% developing treatment-resistant depression (TRD), a major contributor to suicide risk. Existing preclinical models inadequately recapitulate the complexity of the human neurovascular unit (NVU) and blood–brain barrier (BBB), thereby limiting the advancement of effective therapeutics. The objective of this study...
Introducing Optical Fiber-Assisted Bioprinting (OFAB) as Novel 3D Bioprinting Method
Maximilian Pfeiffle, Alessandro Cianciosi, Tomasz Jüngst
Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
Introduction: To accelerate scientific progress in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, new accessible 3D...
The true need for transplantable organs has been estimated to be in the order of few millions only in the Western world.
As, worldwide, only 172,397 transplants were performed in 2024, we can infer that the current approach to organ transplantation is inadequate.
The idea of replacing a terminally diseased organs with a new, functional one procured from another individual dates to more than...
Translating biotherapeutics into clinical practice is essential for enhancing patients' quality of life and reducing therapy costs, ultimately democratizing access to treatments for all. This overview highlights the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics, dedicated to clinical translation of novel therapies into early-phase clinical trials. With facilities in Minnesota, Florida,...
3D bioprinting is emerging as one of the most disruptive technologies in modern medicine, offering the possibility to fabricate patient-specific tissues and organs for regenerative therapies, disease modelling, and drug testing. However, its translation from laboratory research to clinical application faces significant scientific, manufacturing, and regulatory challenges—particularly within...
We developed the Kenzan Method, a scaffold-free, 3D Biofabrication system that uses multicellular spheroids as building blocks. These spheroids are temporarily pierced on a needle array (“KenZan”), where they fuse, self-organize and secrete their own extracellular matrix, yielding purely cellular, functional tissue constructs without foreign materials.
We have demonstrated its versatility...
The recent emergence of additive manufacturing/ 3D printing offers novel routes to fabricate implants and tissue scaffolds of complex architecture, which are personalized to meet the patient’s needs. In this talk, I will highlight some key ongoing efforts in our group on developing advanced biomaterials and biofabrication strategies to meet clinical needs. These efforts span a variety of...
INTRODUCTION
The skin has restricted regeneration potential in the presence of certain illnesses. In certain
circumstances, the using of specific treatments is strongly recommended in order to improve the
wound healing process. Polysaccharide-based biomaterials exhibit a high potential for wound healing
because this category maintains wound hydration, allows gas exchange and absorbs...
The dermal-epidermal junction is critical in maintaining skin homeostasis, providing mechanical support, and facilitating nutrient exchange. One of the key features of this interface is the papillary dermis, which is characterized by a series of undulations that increase surface area for diffusion between dermal and epidermal compartments. During aging, these undulations flatten, resulting in...
Introduction
In Europe, around 60 million people have diabetes, and approximately 15% will develop diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), with annual treatment costs of €4–6 billion [1]. Neuropathy hinders early wound detection, complicating DFU management [2]. Electrospun structures mimic the skin’s extracellular matrix but their 2D nature limits full regeneration [3]. This study proposes to create a...
Introduction: The development of biofabrication requires reliable and standardized methods for quantifying a wide range of printing techniques and tissue models to ensure a successful translation into medical applications. With the rise of convergence and the integration of multiple materials, printing processes are becoming increasingly complex, posing challenges for structural analysis....
Cartilage injuries remain a major clinical challenge due to the tissue’s limited self-healing capacity. Standard treatments, such as microfracture or autologous chondrocyte implantation, are often insufficient in restoring full function and structure of damaged cartilage. In this study, we present the SmartPiezo scaffold - a novel 3D printed, bio-based, and biodegradable construct designed...
Introduction
Large bone defects caused by trauma or surgical resection often require scaffolds that both promote regeneration and prevent bacterial infection. Chitosan–agarose (CA) hydrogels are biocompatible and printable, but their limited mechanical strength and weak antibacterial capacity remain challenges. Incorporating metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) such as ZnO, MgO, and CaO offers a...
Introduction
Osteochondral defects involve damage to both the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone, often resulting in joint instability and risk of osteoarthritic degeneration [1]. Recent research in treating such complex joint lesions focuses on developing 3D porous biomaterials, engineered with precise size and shape specifications through additive manufacturing...
Articular cartilage is a specialized hyaline cartilage that covers the epiphyseal surfaces of bones within synovial joints. It functions to reduce friction and distribute mechanical loads over the joint surface. Damage to the tissue leads to increased stress, inflammation, pain and progressive joint degeneration, potentially resulting in the development of osteoarthritis due to the tissue's...
Living robots represent a new frontier in engineering materials for robotic systems, incorporating biological living cells and synthetic materials into their design. These bio-hybrid robots are dynamic and intelligent, potentially harnessing living matter’s capabilities, such as growth, regeneration, morphing, biodegradation, and environmental adaptation. Such attributes position bio-hybrid...
Introduction
Surgical mesh implantation represents the current standard of care in inguinal hernia repair; however, conventional fixation using sutures is associated with risks of chronic neuralgia-type pain and local tissue irritation. Alternative fixation methods employing fibrin or cyanoacrylate-based adhesives have been introduced, but each presents inherent limitations in terms of...
The field of cardiac tissue engineering is advancing rapidly toward the creation of functional, patient-specific therapies and whole-organ replacement strategies. In this talk, I will present recent progress in developing personalized biomaterials and leveraging state-of-the-art additive manufacturing technologies, including 3D and 4D printing, to fabricate vascularized cardiac tissues and...
In every species of mammal, bird and reptile, and across almost the entire vertebrate world, the skin, lung, arteries and other tissues require elasticity to function. What bestows this elasticity is the protein elastin, which in turn is assembled from the structural protein building-block tropoelastin. We have found that tropoelastin can promote the repair many types of damaged tissues; and...
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex metabolic disease characterized by impaired glucose metabolism (hyperglycemia), leading to severe and long-term complications, such as kidney failure, stroke, peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy and, above all, foot ulcers.
In the last years, 2D in-vitro cell culture systems and 3D in-vivo animal models have been particularly useful in understanding the...
Successful bone regeneration in clinical research still remains a great challenge due to the complex morphology and the recent advances aim to enhance the rate of bone healing using biofabrication strategies such as 3D bioprinting loaded with growth factors. 3D bioprinting has tremendously boosted the transition from conventional regenerative procedures to customized patient-specific...
Introduction/Objectives
We have previously shown that an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) composed of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and dextran can form large interconnected pores via phase separation process [1]. As such open porous gels could be beneficial for 3D tissue engineering, we investigated whether the novel material could be processed by microextrusion and drop-on-demand printing...
Tissue engineering (TE) aims to regenerate damaged or diseased tissues by replicating their native structure, composition, and function. This goal is particularly challenging in the context of musculoskeletal tissues—such as articular cartilage, meniscus, ligaments, and tendons—whose unique biomechanical functions are tightly linked to their extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture. Damage to...
Osteoarthritis is a progressive inflammatory disease characterized by articular cartilage (AC) degeneration, affecting millions globally. Recapitulating AC’s arcade-like collagen structure is key to engineering functional grafts. AC progenitor cells (ACPs) have a unique ability to maintain a stable hyaline phenotype. ACP derived microtissues can potentially be used as biological building...
Biohybrid robotics integrates living biological components with synthetic systems to create machines that sense, actuate, and adapt in biologically meaningful ways. In this talk, I will present a set of diverse yet complementary projects from our lab that demonstrate a multi-scale and cross-species approach to biohybrid system design. These include robots powered by engineered muscle rings,...
3D bioprinting has emerged as a transformative biotechnology in tissue and organ engineering. While substantial progress has been achieved in fabricating vascular networks with vessel diameters exceeding ~100 μm - a scale primarily constrained by current bioprinting resolution - the engineering of functional microvasculature remains critical for enabling efficient mass transport within local...
Introduction
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating joint disease characterized by the progressive degradation of cartilage, leading to pain, stiffness, and limited mobility. Early detection and effective treatment are critical to improving patient outcomes. In this study, we introduce a combined method that uses a new way to deliver RNA with Silk Fibroin (SF) hydrogels and artificial...
The most widespread 3D bioprinting technologies are based on computer-controlled deposition of cells or assembly of cellular units, and thus cannot achieve spatial resolution better than few tens of micrometers. Lithography-based methods approach the problem from a different direction, by producing 3D structures within cell-containing materials and can therefore overcome this limitation. Among...
A Modular Endoscopic Projection System for Spatially Patterned Photocrosslinking in Cartilage Repair
Theofanis Stampoultzis1, Parth Chansoria1, Marco Raffo2, Amedeo Franco Bonatti2, Giovanni Vozzi2,3, Marcy Zenobi-Wong1*
1Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication Lab, ETH Zurich
2Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
3Department of Information Engineering, University of...
Introduction
Breast cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide [1,2]. Conventional 2D cultures and animal models fall short in accurately replicating the breast tumor microenvironment, often lacking translational relevance [3]. The development of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro models through hydrogel-based bioprinting offers a promising...
Introduction:. An innovative approach combining pre-crosslinked methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HAPrime) with hybrid recombinant proteins was developed to create highly effective dressings for deep wound treatment. Treating deep wounds in animals, particularly pigs, remains a significant challenge due to risk of infection and delayed tissue regeneration. Emerging regenerative strategies, such...
Engineering functional, phenotypically stable articular cartilage remains one of the greatest challenges in tissue engineering. Modular tissue engineering strategies that utilize cellular aggregates, microtissues, or organoids as building blocks offer the potential to fabricate complex, hierarchical tissues at scale. However, a key challenge lies in achieving appropriate structural and zonal...
Pediatric bone tissue engineering presents distinct challenges related to the growing patient including: the need for a construct strategy that preserves growth plates; bone generation that remodels in parallel with skeletal development to prevent long-term growth restrictions; and a degradation profile that aligns with the process of bone generation. Despite the recognized limitations of...
Introduction: Tissue engineering has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of microtia, the congenital malformation of the external ear. Patient-specific auricular grafts could be engineered from a small biopsy of approximately 5 mg, eliminating the need for rib cartilage, and provide better aesthetics through biofabrication techniques, resulting in a real, natural ear. However, despite...
Introduction: The meniscus is essential for load distribution, shock absorption, and knee joint stability. Its function depends on the organization of collagen fibers in both radial and circumferential directions. Meniscus damage is often a precursor for degenerative conditions to the articular cartilage (AC). Treatment of meniscal tears is limited to the avascular areas[2]. Current artificial...
Introduction: Melt electrowriting (MEW) has gained considerable popularity in the field of biofabrication due to the unique capabilities it offers to fabricate biologically relevant architectures. Most MEW-generated scaffolds have fiber sizes within the range of 5-50 microns and inter-fiber distances as low as 100 microns. However, that is just close to the maximum pore size where cells...
Introduction: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide, with limited success in translating new therapies to the clinic. Existing in vitro models—such as 2D cultures and engineered heart tissues—struggle to recapitulate the complex cell-cell and cell-microenvironment interactions, as well as the structural and functional hallmarks of cardiac pathology within...
Introduction
Tissues and organs are composed of cells embedded in an instructive 3D extracellular matrix (ECM). Changes in mechanical properties of the ECM act as dynamic cues that guide cells through different stages of development. In synthetic 2D culture systems, matrix stiffness, viscoelasticity, and their variation have been shown to influence cell spreading and differentiation by...
Introduction
Cartilage defects pose significant challenges in terms of healing. Current treatments have limitations in size, availability, or durability.[1,2] Biofabrication aims to restore tissue functionality by placing biological active components in a pre-defined 3D organization, typically using soft hydrogels for cell preferences.[3] These hydrogels can be mechanically reinforced with...
4D bioprinting enables the fabrication of dynamic, adaptive materials capable of autonomous shape transformations in response to environmental cues. While most hydrogel-based actuators rely on external control, developing self-regulating soft robotic systems that operate autonomously in physiological conditions remains a significant challenge.
Here, we present 4D-printed protein-driven...
Bone defects in the oral and maxillofacial region, often resulting from trauma, congenital anomalies, degenerative conditions, or therapeutic procedures, present significant clinical challenges. Guided bone regeneration (GBR) and guided tissue regeneration (GTR) are widely adopted strategies that rely on barrier membranes to spatially direct tissue growth. However, conventional collagen-based...
Introduction: Bottom-up tissue engineering strategies, particularly those inspired by developmental biology, hold the potential for creating biomimetic grafts capable of replicating natural tissue structures (1-2). In this work, we leverage the intrinsic ability of cellular aggregates, serving as tissue building blocks, to fuse for engineering biomimetic cartilage. We further develop a new...
Engineered tissues have the potential to serve as sensing, actuation, and mechanical support elements for soft machines that possess biomimetic functionality. Conventional biohybrid constructs involve the use of synthetic structures made from hydrogels or elastomers as support elements because free-standing contractile tissues do not have a stable form. In this talk, I am going to explain how...
INTRODUCTION: Recent research on cancer therapy has increasingly focused on melatonin as a potential antitumor agent, particularly in liver cancer. Its mechanisms include modulation of apoptotic pathways, reduction of proinflammatory markers, and circadian rhythm regulation - all potentially relevant to inhibiting liver carcinogenesis. Alongside drug development, advancements in tissue models...
Introduction
Volumetric muscle loss due to trauma often exceeds the body’s intrinsic regenerative capacity. The gold standard of treatment with autologous transplants carries the significant drawbacks of donor site morbidity and limited availability. Although current tissue-engineered products offer potential, they require improvements in terms of shape fidelity, surgical handling, transport,...
Background: The development of functional tracheal tissue requires both mechanical stability and cellular functionality, yet creating biomimetic tracheal structures remains a significant challenge. In this study, we developed tissue-specific hydrogels derived from decellularized extracellular matrices (ECM) of cartilage, submucosa, and muscle using proprietary methods. In tissue engineering,...
Clinical application of beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) has been limited by lack of bone infiltration within its bulk form. Lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM), a novel additive manufacturing (AM) technique, leverages photopolymerization to create β-TCP structures with higher feature resolution and surface quality than traditional techniques. This modality allows for a more...
Introduction
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease affecting osteochondral (OC) tissue, leading to pain and joint dysfunction. Current treatments are often limited by availability, efficacy, and cost, highlighting the need for innovative therapeutic approaches. To address this challenge, we propose a novel tool EndoFLight, an advanced in situ 3D bioprinting platform designed for...
Introduction
Polymer-based hydrogels serve as excellent mimics of the extracellular matrix, enabling the generation of 3D in vitro tissue models.1 To improve the ability of these models to replicate tissue in vivo, there is great interest in enhancing model complexity.2 Towards this goal, the utilization of photoresponsive chemistries (e.g. polymerization/degradation) permits precise...
Soft robots offer unique advantages in biomedical applications due to their adaptability and biocompatibility. However, scalable, contactless fabrication methods are underdeveloped. We present a novel approach using sound-induced hydrodynamic instabilities to assemble magnetic soft robots within a gelatin matrix. These robots, actuated by a magnetic field, undergo complex shape...
Introduction
Cardiovascular diseases, responsible for 17.9 million fatalities annually, are the leading cause of death worldwide. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the causes of chronic CVD, which is the most common cause of congenital pathologies and the most common congenital malformation, affecting almost 1% of all live births. The standard treatment of CHD approach often involves...
Introduction: With a very low success rate of the currently available osteoarthritis (OA) treatment modalities, implanting a phenotypically stable cartilage graft is the only plausible strategy to mitigate cartilage lesions. However, poor understanding of the developmental biology leading to chondrocyte hypertrophy of the implanted construct rendered the attempts futile. The current study...
Introduction: The osteochondral unit composed of subchondral bone, calcified cartilage and hyaline cartilage fulfills a crucial function in joint homeostasis and load transduction. During osteoarthritis, this unit is severely damaged resulting in impaired joint function. Strategies to regain function range from autologous chondrocyte implantation to tissue engineered cartilage to osteochondral...
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is an autoimmune condition resulting in the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells, leading to chronic hyperglycemia and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). These factors contribute to serious complications such as diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) (1-2), which result from chronic inflammation, vascular damage, and neuropathy. Despite their...
Peripheral artery disease is the third leading cause for morbidity worldwide, demanding a multimodal therapy for more than 200 million people. Current therapeutic options for more severe cases range from medication therapy to surgical interventions. Synthetic vascular bypass grafts are the current gold standard in the surgical treatment of patients with no suitable autologous graft available....
Pancreatic islet transplantation holds significant potential for treating insulin-dependent diabetes, but its clinical utility remains limited by donor scarcity, immune rejection, and the need for lifelong immunosuppression. To overcome these challenges, stem cell-derived islets, particularly those differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) engineered for...
Introduction
The development of smart materials for bioprinting unlocks flexibility and control over the final construct characteristics and composition.1 Dynamic crosslinking allows the development of stimuli-responsive inks with intrinsic reversibility triggered by tunable physical and chemical conditions.2 Typically made of densely packed or jammed microgels, granular hydrogels offer...
INTRODUCTION
Articular cartilage has limited regenerative potential and therefore does not restore upon damage. Biofabrication technologies offer promising strategies to engineer functional cartilage constructs to address also large defects [1]. Multicellular spheroids, or microtissues, are widely used as building blocks in these approaches to generate large volumes of cartilage-like matrix...
Developing robots covered with living skin tissue can significantly enhance their huamn-like apperance, barrier function, and regenerative capacity. However, maintaining viable skin tissues in air-exposed environments requires a robust internal nutrient supply system. In this study, we propose a method for constructing perfusable skin-covered robotic structures by integrating microchannels...
Periodontal disease(PD) is a chronic infection caused by gram-negative bacteria, with a high prevalence worldwide. It is considered the second leading cause of dental problems.The disease begins with an imbalance between the oral microbiota and the host’s immune system, triggering vascular changes and inflammation.Common symptoms include bleeding and swollen gums, which compromise tissue...
Bioengineered cardiac tissue substitutes present immense potential for advancing regenerative therapies for ischemic heart diseases, the leading cause of hospitalization and mortality worldwide. Despite significant research efforts, existing biomaterials and scaffold fabrication approaches continue to face critical challenges, particularly inadequate electrophysiological integration resulting...
Introduction
3D tissue printing has advanced significantly and can now create controlled vascular networks in engineered tissues for effective oxygen and nutrient transfer. However, a major challenge with cell-containing bioink hydrogels is their limited printing resolution, which affects the creation of small-scale features like capillaries. Here, we present a novel...
Introduction
The standardizability in fabrication of any biological tissues in high numbers is a major promise of the field of biofabrication. The acceptance of biofabrication methods in the industry continues to be hampered by the fact that bioinks are assembled in non-physiological structures (especially for soft tissues) combined with an absent application-orientated model design.
With...
Introduction :
Volumetric bioprinting (VBP), enables the fabrication of complex cell laden architectures at high printing speeds in a layer-less fashion. Recently, this technology was refined to precisely pattern (bio)active molecules inside (bio)printed constructs post-fabrication, introducing possibilities for 4D printing. [1] A key challenge in biofabrication lies in replicating the...
Introduction
The performance of hemodialysis membranes depends on uremic toxin clearance, biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and the ultrafiltration characteristics of the hemodialyzer [1]. The clearance rate can be controlled by membrane properties, such as thickness, morphology, and pore size, as well as the surface properties of the membrane [2].
Methods
Novel hemodialysis...
Regeneration of bone defects exceeding the critical size remains a challenge, as bone cells require proper oxygen tension. In contrast, chondrocytes are less susceptible to hypoxic conditions. Consequently, in recent years, many studies have focused on the development of biomaterials for bone regeneration through the endochondral ossification (EO) pathway. This route involves the formation of...
Introduction. Mechano-transduction is the process by which cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli from their environment, converting mechanical signals into biochemical signals that can influence cellular behavior, gene expression, and development [1]. In brain organoids, this mechanical cues are crucial for mimicking developmental processes, from embryonic development to neural stem...
Three-dimensional (3D) cellular models to study various kind of diseases mimic a more in <span style="box-sizing:border-box; margin:0px; padding:0px">vivo-like</span> native environment compared to 2D cellular models. Our study focuses on breast cancer, which represents the second most common cancer to metastasize to the brain. Triple-negative breast cancer, HER2+, and Luminal B breast...
Despite significant advancements in 3D bioprinting, challenges remain in achieving high printing speed, efficiency, and homogeneity in biological samples. These limitations constrain the practical application of bioprinting in tissue engineering, particularly in the fabrication of complex tissues like skeletal muscle. This project introduces a novel high-throughput combina torial...
Introduction: Corneal transplantation is the gold standard procedure to cure corneal diseases that can lead to blindness. Fabrication of corneal tissues is a promising solution to overcome the shortage of human donors. Our future goal is to utilize a bioprinter mounted to a robotic arm to print corneal tissue directly onto the eye of the patient. One interesting cell type for in situ and in...
Introduction
For decades, two-dimensional (2D) cell culture systems have been fundamental for studying cellular metabolism, differentiation, and drug efficacy. These simple models enable straightforward experimental design but does not replicate native tissue complexity. Important features such as physiological cell density, structural organization, and vascularization are absent. Recently,...
Expanding the Melt-Electro Fibrillation Polymer Library for Advanced Biofabrication Applications
Tamaki Kumauchi1, Kristina Andelovic1 and Jürgen Groll1
1Department of Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Functional Materials and Biofabrication (IFB), and Bavarian Polymer Institute (BPI), University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
Introduction: Melt-Electro...
Introduction
Tissue decellularization is widely used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Currently, most established decellularization methods use detergents, which have long decellularization processes with inconsistent results. Residual chemicals used in decellularization or changes in the biochemistry and structure of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins may be responsible for...
Chitosan, a naturally derived polysaccharide, has gained significant attention in tissue engineering due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioactivity. However, conventional chitosan sourced from crustacean shells poses limitations such as allergenicity and ethical concerns. In this study, we extracted and characterized mushroom-derived chitosan from Pleurotus ostreatus...
Conventional local drug delivery systems often fail to support sustained drug release, while many biomaterials used in tissue engineering and transplantation lack the necessary stability, biocompatibility, and capacity to support vascularization required for long-term graft survival and function. In order to overcome these restrictions, 3D bioprinting has become a potent technique that makes...
Introduction: The glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) is a highly specialized structure responsible for blood filtration in the kidney; is composed of podocytes, glomerular basement membrane and fenestrated endothelial cells. Dysfunction of this barrier is a hallmark of many glomerular diseases. However, the current systems in vitro cannot mimic efficiently the 3D organization and the...
Introduction
Two main technologies of Biofabrication are bioprinting and scaffold generation. [1] Bioprinting can be used with cells in the matrix, while scaffold generation is cell-free and cells are attached afterwards. Both have their distinct advantages, e.g. bioprinting enables the generation of complex tissue hierarchies in one step, while scaffolds can guide cell elongation via...
Introduction
Cartilage tissue regeneration has been significantly advanced through the development of artificial scaffolds, including three-dimensional (3D) electrospun structures. A key challenge in designing in vitro osteochondral models is creating scaffolds with a functional barrier that mimics the native tidemark—separating cartilage and bone—while still permitting cellular communication...
Development of patient specific composite scaffold using 3D printing for regeneration of craniofacial bone tissue
Monireh Kouhi1*, Mohammad Khodaei2, Saba Yousefi3
1. Dental Materials Research Center, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan 81746-73461, Iran,
2. Materials Engineering Group, Golpayegan College of Engineering, Isfahan...
Introduction:
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and although developing new therapies can help fight this disease, cancers which origins from breast, lung or prostate can undergo metastasis process leading to development of secondary tumors in other parts of the human body [1]. Bone is the organ to which cancer often metastases and to pioneer cancer therapies, creation of...
Bioprinting technology holds tremendous potential for developing artificial tissues and organs that mimic the complexity of their native counterparts. However, despite considerable progress in the field, bioprinted tissues are structurally and functionally immature compared to their native counterparts. This limits their effectiveness as implants for regenerative medicine or predictive...
Gingival recession, a prevalent condition affecting the gum tissues, is characterized by the exposure of tooth root surfaces due to the displacement of the gingival margin. This presentation will emphasize the critical considerations in gingival tissue engineering leveraging on cells, biomaterials, and signaling factors. Successful tissue-engineered gingival constructs hinge on strategic...
Among the challenges associated with the regeneration of critical-sized bone defects, the most significant issue is the insufficient delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which impedes the optimal development of osteocytes. A potential solution lies in the use of biomaterials that can induce bone formation from hypertrophic chondrocytes cartilage tissue via endochondral ossification. For the...
Anisotropy is a defining feature of many biological tissues, from skeletal muscle to vascular networks, and replicating this structural organization is crucial in the design of functional tissue constructs and relevant in vitro models. However, current biofabrication strategies often struggle to produce aligned architectures in a scalable, high-throughput, and versatile manner. Here, we...
Large cartilage defect of the knee joint can cause a major disabilty for young patients. At the UMC Utrecht, a one-stage cell therapy was developed, combining autologous chondrons with allogenieic mesenchymal stromal cells (IMPACT treatment). The IMPACT treatment is a perfect example of how a new brining a novel treatment from bench to bedside, a result of collaboration between...
The functional and sensory augmentation of living structures, such as human skin and plant epidermis, with electronics can be used to create platforms for health management and environmental monitoring. Ideally, such bioelectronic interfaces should not obstruct the inherent sensations and physiological changes of their hosts. The full life cycle of the interfaces should also be designed to...
Skeletal muscle tissue engineering is emerging as a cornerstone in the development of in vitro models, offering unprecedented opportunities to study muscle physiology and pathology. This work aim to develop high-throughput, custom-designed system for fabricating skeletal muscle constructs at a centimetre scale, addressing challenges in scalability, reproducibility, and biological...
Impact of cellular interactions on microarchitecture, matrix remodeling, and tenogenesis
in bioreactor stimulated 3D tendon model
Amrutha Datla, Subha Narayan Rath*
Regenerative Medicine and Stem cell Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India - 502284
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: Tendon injuries are widespread, often leading to tendinopathy due to lack of
early recognition,...
Introduction
One of the most significant challenges in organ bioengineering is developing functional vascular networks. Proper vascularization is critical for transporting oxygen, nutrients, and signaling molecules, while also removing waste. In bionic organs, poor vessel formation limits nutrient exchange and cell migration, reducing transplant quality and long-term survival [1], [2]. The...
Adipose tissue is a crucial organ involved in energy metabolism, endocrine signaling, and immune regulation, making it a key target for regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and cultured meat applications. While traditional tissue engineering approaches have made significant progress in adipose tissue reconstruction, the biofabrication of functional and physiologically relevant adipose...
Rapid in situ bioprinting on complex, human-scale anatomical surfaces remain a key challenge for clinical translation. Here, we present a gravity-independent, conformal bioprinting strategy using bi-phasic granular bioink and multinozzle printheads capable of adapting to arbitrary surface curvatures. The bioink comprised of jammed gelatin microgels suspended in a fibrinogen matrix exhibits...
Introduction:
On-chip vascular microfluidic models provide powerful platforms for studying vasculature and its diseases in vitro. These models enable focused investigation of specific vascular layers, such as the endothelium, and the influence of hemodynamics on it. While traditional plastics or glass-based fabrication allows for defined microchannel architecture, its inherent stiffness and...
The engineering of hierarchical tissues with controlled cellular behavior is essential for replicating the complexity and functionality of natural organs. In our approach, we employed nanoengineered scaffolds to creat hybrid bioink or controlled macromolecule assembly in pre-crosslinked bioinks (yet not chemically crosslinked) to guide (stem) cell migration and promote anisotropic cellular...
Introduction:
Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural crest cells (NC-MSCs), following mesenchymal induction, exhibit strong chondrogenic potential, making them a promising source for cartilage repair. However, like other mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), their potential decreases with repeated monolayer expansion. TD-198946, a small molecule, has been shown to enhance chondrogenic...
The first publication that presented embedded 3D printing was titled "Omnidirectional Printing". This term elegantly captured the ability to write non-planar and freeform filaments. However, the use of a support bath requires a physical bath to hold the gel, and allows entry only from the top. A truly omnidirectional method of 3D printing would enable printheads to construct parts from all...
Considering the increasing incidence of bone-degenerative diseases and injuries, including osteoarthritis, especially in societies where aging is associated with increased obesity and poor physical activity, the repair of bone defects is one of the major challenges in medical science. Due to the difficulties, high cost, risks of surgery, severe allergic reactions, and ultimately rejection of...
Introduction
Despite significant developments in endothelial-cell (EC) manipulation techniques, a proper in vitro model of a functional microvasculature with controlled local interconnectivity under well-defined global architecture is still lacking. Here, we report the generation of such controlled multi-scale vascular networks via manipulation of tens of sprouting EC ‘seeds’. We exploit...
Decellularized scaffolds are becoming important tools within tissue engineering. This work compares the effectiveness of three decellularization protocols—SDS, H₂O₂, and Triton X-100 for goat urinary bladder tissue on the preservation of ECM components and the functionality of scaffolds. The cellular removal and ECM preservation were assessed through histological staining with H&E,...
Bone extracellular matrix (ECM) shows considerable promise as a material for bone graft substitutes, primarily due to its intrinsic osteoinductive properties, which naturally support the process of bone formation. Bone ECM can be processed into highly porous scaffolds that facilitate effective cell infiltration and nutrient transport. A potential limitation of bone ECM scaffolds is their...
Introduction
Cell-seeded scaffolds made from natural or synthetic materials are widely tested in animal models as biodegradable implants for treatment of joint disease (1). One of the most commonly used material for scaffold production is polycaprolactone (PCL), known for its biocompatibility and mechanical properties close to human cartilage. To validate cell distribution within scaffold and...
The intricate architecture of the human central nervous system (CNS) presents significant challenges in neuroscience in developing in vitro models that accurately replicate its structure and function under both physiological and pathological conditions. The brain’s highly organized and layered regions, each characterized by distinct cellular phenotypes and extracellular matrix (ECM)...
Recreating the highly aligned and hierarchical structure of native extracellular matrix (ECM) remains a pivotal challenge in musculoskeletal tissue engineering, particularly for skeletal muscle, where anisotropic architecture is critical for function. In this study, we present a novel strategy that integrates melt electrofibrillation and 3D cell spheroid bioassembly to fabricate structurally...
Self-assembling peptide amphiphiles (PAs) offer a unique combination of biofunctionality, structural tunability, and nanofibre alignment under shear, making them highly promising materials for advanced in vitro tissue models. Despite this potential, their inherent fragility and the lack of scalable structuring strategies have restricted their wider adoption for in vitro modelling. To address...
Introduction: To this date, Melt Electrowriting (MEW) is primarily done on flat collectors for tissue engineering (TE) applications. There are no flat geometries in the body, so it is crucial to find ways to fabricate out-of-plane scaffolds that better conform to the shape of the targeted tissues. 6-axis robots have been used in MEW to move the printhead around a static collector for the...
Introduction
Extrusion-based bioprinting represents a promising alternative to current cell-based approaches in cartilage regeneration. However, a major challenge in the fabrication of cartilage is still to achieve appropriate mechanical properties which are essential for biological functionality. In current biofabrication approaches bioinks are often combined with PCL scaffolds or other...
Introducing Optical Fiber-Assisted Bioprinting (OFAB) as Novel 3D Bioprinting Method
Maximilian Pfeiffle, Alessandro Cianciosi, Tomasz Jüngst
Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
Introduction: To accelerate scientific progress in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, new accessible 3D...
Tissue Engineering (TE) and Regenerative Medicine (RM) seeks to mimic the complex structure and functionality of natural tissues, where directionally-dependent properties and negative Poisson's ratio behaviors are essential to guide cell migration and activity, ultimately leading to influencing tissue regeneration. These characteristics are fundamentally linked to fiber orientation and...
Purpose
The primary role of articular cartilage (AC) is to provide frictionless joint movement while transferring loads to the underlying bone [1]. Thanks to its unique hierarchical arcade-like collagen type II fiber organization, AC withstands extreme mechanical forces. While numerous regenerative medicine approaches strive to replicate the native architecture of AC, none have achieved...
Borax-based Self-Healing Gels for Meniscus Tissue Engineering
Selma. J. Padilla Padilla1, Pavel Milkin1, Indra Apsite1, Leonid Ionov1,2
1 Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University of Bayreuth, Ludwig Thoma Str. 36A, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
2Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
The meniscus plays a crucial role in force transmission, shock absorption,...
Introduction
The functionality of skeletal muscle tissue (SMT) hinges on its hierarchical anisotropic microstructure. Conventional 2D cell cultures are poorly biomimetic and unable to properly support in vitro engineering of SMT, triggering the research towards more reliable and predictive in vitro models [1]. Biomimetic fiber-based scaffolds provide topographical cues supporting SMT in vitro...
Introduction
Diabetes is a chronic, globally prevalent disease characterized by impaired pancreatic islet cell function. Existing treatments, such as pancreatic islet transplants or exogenous insulin, do not fully restore physiological pancreatic function. This has prompted the search for alternative therapies. Implementing 3D bioprinting of functional pancreatic organoids that mimic native...
Introduction: Nasal septum defects, whether resulting from infection, trauma, or prior surgery, remain difficult to repair due to shortcomings in existing implant materials [1]. Conventional implants often suffer from inadequate mechanical strength, rapid degradation, or insufficient bioactive cues for both cartilage and mucosal regeneration [1]. As a result, patients risk poor functional...
The advancement of disease modeling and drug testing has been consistently limited by the shortcomings of conventional in vitro and in vivo models, which often fail to accurately replicate the complex microenvironment of human tissues. To address this issue, our study introduces an innovative in vivo-mimicking three-dimensional human colon model that reproduces the structural, mechanical,...
Introduction:
Biofabrication of highly aligned 3D tissues like nerves, tendons, or muscles remains challenging due to insufficient scaffold cues to guide cell alignment, proliferation, extracellular matrix secretion, and maturation into functional tissues. Previously, we showed the ability to create such tissue constructs using filamented light (FLight) biofabrication approach1. We expanded...
INTRODUCTION: The biological world is curved from the subcellular to the continental length scale [1]. Cells sense the complex shapes of their surroundings and respond to these stimuli through the transduction of physical stimuli into biochemical responses. In vitro, designed, cell-scale 2.5D curvatures have been shown to drive cell migration responses [2]. However, synthetic polymer...
The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the central nervous system is a specialized, ultra-soft structure that provides crucial biochemical and mechanical support for neuronal survival, differentiation, and synaptic connectivity. It consists of a network of biomolecules, including glycosaminoglycans like hyaluronic acid, as well as structural and adhesive proteins such as laminins. Laminins play a...
Introduction
Osteochondral defects present a significant challenge due to the non-regenerative nature of articular cartilage (AC). Current treatments are limited in size, availability and durability.[1,2] Regenerative medicine and bioprinting offer a promising solution to overcome these challenges.[3] Soft hydrogels can be mechanically reinforced with microfiber box structures created with...
Introduction
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) represent a promising and versatile platform for the non-viral delivery of genetic material, including microRNA (miRNA), which plays a crucial regulatory role in gene expression. While LNPs have already demonstrated clinical success as mRNA carriers in vaccines, most notably in COVID-19 immunization strategies, their application in miRNA delivery opens...
INTRODUCTIO
The synovial lining is responsible to produce synovial fluid into the joint capsule. The synovial fluid acts as a lubricating and protecting layer for the articular cartilage to ensure pain-free frictionless movement of the articular joint. The synovial lining is prone to inflammation from injury, overuse or inflammatory arthritis (1), but modelling these events in vitro, while...
Skeletal muscle exhibits a highly organized, anisotropic architecture, where fascicles - bundles of aligned myofibers - are embedded within a connective tissue matrix. Such structural organization is the key for skeletal muscle achieving uniaxial contractions, mechanical stability, and functional performance in vivo.
The presented engineered skeletal muscle (eSM) platform aims the development...
Introduction
Animal models have been the gold standard for testing chemotherapeutic drugs, but less than 5 percent of drugs passed clinical trials between 2000 and 2015 [1]. Furthermore, regulatory agencies are mandating the reduction of animal testing [2]. We propose a tumor-on-a-chip model facilitated by multiphoton lithography (MPL), a high-resolution 3D printing technology that enables...
Introduction
Cartilage defects present significant challenges in long-term repair, with current treatments, such as cell-based therapies, often failing to restore sustained biomechanical function due to poor integration and/or lack of type II collagen organization[1]. The native depth-dependent fiber orientations in the arched collagen structure provide the mechanical support necessary to...
Light-based biofabrication techniques like filamented light (FLight) offer robust architectural alignment but are often limited in compositional complexity[1]. Conversely, acoustic assembly enables non-contact, label-free patterning of cellular spheroids or bioactive particulates, yet lacks architectural guidance at the microstructural level[2]. To achieve tissue functionality, such as muscle,...
Introduction
Microtia and traumatic injuries are among the primary causes of external ear malformation or absence. Based on epidemiological data, approximately 1.46 out of every 10,000 newborns are affected by microtia, with 22.1% of these cases involving complete anotia [1]. To address these conditions, different ear reconstruction approaches have been developed, including autologous rib...
Introduction
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) results from mutations in the DMD gene, leading to the absence of dystrophin protein and fatal skeletal muscle wasting. Currently, no approved treatments address DMD’s root cause. An in vitro skeletal muscle model would provide a platform to study cause and develop therapeutic strategies. However, existent models fail to recapitulate the genetic...
Corneal blindness is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. A cornea transplant surgery provides ultimate cure, however, it is restricted by donor tissue shortage. Thus, we aim to develop 3D bioprinted full thickness corneas to address this lack of donor material. To ensure robust transport, handling, and suturing, the bioprinted cornea's mechanical properties needs to be improved....
Introduction
Over the past two decades, robotic additive manufacturing (RAM) has been introduced into fields such as aerospace and construction, and multiple studies have shown the potential of RAM for Regenerative Medicine (RM). However, hardware limitations of current industrial robots reduce the print resolution of small volume RAM hindering the wider adoption into RM. Eye-in Hand (EH)...
INTRODUCTION
Although a complete understanding of the mechanisms by which ECM stiffness impacts cellular development has not been fully achieved, the biomechanical properties of ECM have been shown to play a significant role in regulating cell proliferation (Mih et al. 2012), migration (Ehrbar et al. 2011), and differentiation (Han et al. 2020) among other phenomena. Furthermore, the...
Introduction
Xolography is a scalable volumetric 3D printing technology[1] enabling rapid and precise fabrication of complex hydrogel structures[2]. Its recent adaptation for bioprinting has opened exciting possibilities for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine[3]. Yet, standard bioresins like GelMA have shown limited reactivity—a challenge recently addressed through smart formulation...
Barrier tissues in the body often form tubular structures that regulate molecular and water transport to maintain physiological function. We present a hierarchical biofabrication strategy to engineer such structures with tailored barrier properties, using ultrathin, wet-spun collagen membranes exhibiting high fibrillar alignment, compaction, and a Darcy permeability of 3.84 × 10⁻¹⁶ m². By...
Introduction
Over the past few decades, extensive research has been actively conducted for the fabrication of human tissues to, amongst many applications, understand the effects of a wide range of chemicals on human health and the environment (1). Thus, the need for the development of innovative assessment tools that provide reliable results in identifying and regulating the risks of...
Introduction
Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an additive manufacturing technique with significant potential in cartilage tissue engineering. While osteoinductive coatings have been employed to functionalize MEW scaffolds, the efficacy of comparable chondro-inductive coatings remains unproven. Type II collagen and sGAGs are key cartilage ECM components that promote chondrogenesis when included in...
Introduction:
The low success rate of oncological drugs in clinical trials highlights the need for predictive preclinical models because the traditional 2D cultures and animal models fail to replicate human tumor microenvironments fully. The researchers have seen 3D bioprinting as a promising technology for the fabrication of more physiologically relevant tissue models. Bioinks for such...
Injectable Nanofibrous Microcarriers with Tunable PVA/Tannic Acid Ratios for Controlled miRNA Delivery in Intervertebral Disc Regeneration
Farzaneh Sabbagh, Paweł Nakielski
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences (IPPT PAN), Warsaw, Poland
Introduction: Degenerative disc disease (IDD) induces persistent back discomfort resulting from the degeneration...
Introduction: Reproducibility, scalability and adaptability are crucial aspects for any fabrication method that desires to address cell laden materials that shall be used for tissue engineering or drug screening approaches. Biomimetic fiber-based scaffolds are the most prominent among these as they mimic the fibrillar nature of many ECM proteins or other fibrous structures found therein, such...
Quercetin, a flavonoid known for its antioxidant properties, has recently garnered attention as a potential neuroprotective agent for treatment of the injured nervous system. The repair of peripheral nerve injuries hinges on the proliferation and migration of Schwann cells, which play a crucial role in supporting axonal growth and myelination. In this study we synthesized Quercetin-derived...
Introduction: Advancements in biofabrication are poised to revolutionize healthcare by providing innovative solutions to complex medical challenges. A recent area of excitement is the integration of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which plays a pivotal role in tissue homeostasis, cellular signalling, and regenerative processes, into biofabrication approaches, making it the ECM a critical...
Introduction
Natural biomaterials have opened promising avenues in bioprinting and tissue engineering by providing native-like environments for regenerative therapies. These materials offer significant biological advantages but also introduce challenges related to variability, immunogenicity, and contamination risks [1]. The regulatory framework is gradually evolving to address these...
Biofabrication technologies, including extrusion bioprinting, bioassembly, digital light processing (DLP) and volumetric bioprinting (VBP), offer the potential to engineer constructs consisting of cell-laden bioinks, tissue modules, and/or bioactive factors that replicate the complex 3D organization of native tissues. Despite rapid advances however, development of individual bioinks for each...
Bioinspired engineered microenvironments provide cells with a holistic “instructive niche” that offers the adequate entourage for cellular control both in space and time. Such approaches are important to design hierarchical constructs with applicability, for example, in tissue engineering or in the development of in vitro models for drug screening. We have been proposing strategies of...
Lesions in the menisci are frequently related to sports injuries and dramatically increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis. It is estimated that 1.5 million meniscal repairs are performed annually in the United States and Europe, representing one of the most common clinical procedures performed by orthopaedic surgeons. In the field of tissue engineering there is increased interest in the...
The recent development of bioengineering enables to create human tissues by integrating various native microenvironments, including tissue-specific cells, biochemical and biophysical cues. A significant transition of 3D bioprinting technology into the biomedical field helps to improve the function of engineered tissues by recapitulating physiologically relevant geometry, complexity, and...
Biofabrication increasingly demands creative strategies to fabricate structured and functional constructs that can meet healthcare challenges. Chaotic printing and bioprinting offer a unique and accessible way to build internal complexity in materials, leveraging the deterministic behavior of laminar flows.
Our journey began with a miniaturized journal bearing system, where controlled chaotic...
The meniscus plays a critical role in load transmission, shock absorption, and joint stability within the knee. However, its limited regenerative capacity, particularly in the inner avascular zone, contributes to the progression of degenerative joint diseases following injury. The complex zonal organization of the meniscus—characterized by a fibrous outer zone rich in type I collagen and a...
Decellularized human chorionic membrane (HCM) offers a promising biomaterial for tissue engineering due to its rich extracellular matrix (ECM), inherent biocompatibility, and accessibility. This study compares the efficacy of different decellularization methods in generating acellular HCM scaffolds while preserving structural and functional ECM integrity. Cellular removal and ECM preservation...
Introduction Significant efforts have concentrated on creating various synthetic and natural biomaterials that mimic the native bone extracellular matrix, promote osteogenic differentiation, and improve effective bone regeneration. 3D printing has become a widely used fabrication method for scaffolds, facilitating the accurate mapping of the 3D structure of bone defects [1]. In this research,...
Corneal disorders, including trauma, infections, and degenerative diseases, are among the major causes of blindness. Due to the global shortage of donor corneas and risks associated with transplantation, there is a growing interest in developing bioprinted corneal implants as an alternative therapeutic approach.
The aim of this study was to evaluate an alginate-based bioink. In the first...
Skin is the largest organ of the human body acting as a barrier against physical and chemical stimuli. It is well known that exposure to solar UV rays, UVA and UVB, damages its structure and ages prematurely the skin (a phenomenon called photoaging). In the last decades, three-dimensional (3D) in vitro models were considered to test novel cosmetic and pharmaceutical products against...
Approaches towards tendon microarchitecture through melt electrowriting and melt-electrofibrillation
Jürgen Groll
Department of Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry at the Institute for Functional Materials and Biofabrication & Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a relatively young additive manufacturing...
Our musculoskeletal system has a limited capacity for repair. This has led to increased interest in the development of tissue engineering and biofabrication strategies for the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues such as bone, ligament, tendon, meniscus and articular cartilage. This invited talk will demonstrate how different musculoskeletal tissues, specifically cartilage, bone and...
Collagen-based biomaterials have gained increasing attention in regenerative medicine and nutraceutical applications. This study integrates three complementary approaches: the investigation of collagenous biopolymers from marine spongin, the development of bioinks derived from decellularized collagen-rich extracellular matrix (dECM) of the porcine meniscus for 3D bioprinting, and the creation...
In this work, we present our latest advances in the biofabrication of monoculture and polyculture tumor niches using chaotic bioprinting as an enabling strategy for in vitro cancer research.
We first focus on the fabrication of monoculture breast cancer models designed to study tumor cell migration and invasion. Understanding these processes requires sophisticated models that accurately...
Introduction
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a rare and aggressive primary bone tumor affecting children and adolescents. Traditional 2D models fail to replicate the complexity of bone–tumor interactions.
Aim: to develop a hybrid 3D osteosarcoma model replicating interactions between healthy and malignant bone tissues.
Methods
Healthy bone-mimicking scaffolds were fabricated using TCP-enriched (20...
Introduction:
Replicating physiologically relevant tissue environments in vitro requires both sophisticated biological design and reliable scalable fabrication. Current approaches often rely on complex biofabrication methods such as stereolithography (SLA) and melt electrowriting (MEW), which are time-intensive, laborious, and lack reproducibility at scale [1,2]. To overcome these...
3D multicellular models provide valuable platforms for tissue regeneration, disease modeling, and biomaterial evaluation. However, the recreation of complex stratified systems that combine different tissue types and pathophysiological conditions remains challenging. In this work, we developed a multilayer construct integrating skin, muscle, and bone components using digital light processing...
Introduction
Robotic additive manufacturing (RAM) is currently being explored to overcome the limitations of layer-by-layer additive manufacturing technologies in the fabrication of complex constructs for regenerative medicine (RM). A few successful attempts at using RAM for in-situ extrusion-based bioprinting have been reported, where the fabrication is non-planar but still...
Introduction
Bioprinting for Tissue Engineered Advance Therapeutic Medicinal Products (TE-ATMPs) recently gaining ground aiming to regenerate defects and restoration of damaged tissues for bone tissue engineering solutions. The efficiency of TE-ATMPs is related to high cell density constructs as obtained via organoid bioassemblies. This has been convincingly demonstrated for engineered...
Digital Light Processing (DLP) is a 3D printing method that offers enhanced precision, quicker print times, increased throughput, and better cell viability by minimizing shear stress compared to extrusion-based bioprinting, which depends on mechanical nozzle deposition and tends to be slower with lower resolution. These advantages make it particularly well-suited for fabricating complex tissue...
Introduction
A substantial body of scientific evidence demonstrates that gut microbiota plays a central role in human health and disease1,2. Understanding bacteria–host interactions in the human gut is essential for advancing microbiome research. Early 3D culture systems relied on physical membranes to separate bacteria from the intestinal epithelium model, which often limited the ability to...
Fibrin-based biomaterials are clinically established for their biocompatibility, resorbability, and hemostatic function, and have found widespread use in surgical sealants and wound repair [1]. However, their application in bone regeneration remains limited due to intrinsic softness, fast degradation, and poor mechanical tunability [2]. To address these shortcomings, we present a novel,...
Articular cartilage (AC) transmits large mechanical loads in synovial joints. This tissue’s properties derive from its unique composition and structure, which consists of glycosaminoglycans and type II collagen arranged into arcade-like structures [1]. AC has a limited capacity for regeneration, hence damage here typically leads to the development of osteoarthritis, a disease impacting the...
Introduction
The field of regenerative medicine increasingly demands scalable, patient-specific soft tissue constructs. While hydrogel-based bioprinting provides a favorable environment for cell viability, it often lacks mechanical integrity - especially critical for replicating the elastic nature of soft tissues. Traditional scaffold-integrated bioprinting has improved structural support but...
Introduction
Materials capable of undergoing shape transformations in response to external stimuli offer significant advantages for a range of applications, including biomedical implants, soft robotics, and medical devices.[1] Microgel-based scaffolds have recently gained attention among these applications due to their interstitial microscale voids, which make them superior in oxygen and...
Introduction
Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a traumatic or surgical injury of the skeletal muscles with irrecoverable functions, which leads to chronic deficits and long-term disability. Regenerative medicine using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a potent therapeutic approach for VML due to their tissue regenerative ability. However, the therapy for VML remains a challenge in regenerative...
Introduction: Three dimensional (3D) bioprinting provides a wide avenue to design complex and customized constructs for tissue regeneration, disease modelling, and drug testing applications. Bioink formulations in 3D bioprinting usually lack the presence of micrometre-sized and interconnected pores, resulting in reduce cell viability and prevent biological communications with host tissues,...
Introduction
Probiotic therapies offer great potential for addressing gut dysbiosis, but current approaches are limited by low strain diversity, high production costs, and the challenges of culturing strict anaerobes. Some promising approaches include co-culture techniques, but traditional methods have drawbacks, including nutrient competition and instability due to different growth rates...
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death globally, with myocardial infarction (MI) as a major contributor. Traditional 2D cultures and animal models fail to recapitulate the native electromechanical properties and pathological responses of the human myocardium. Recent advancements in human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology and 3D bioprinting have enabled...
Abstract
Introduction
Osteosarcoma (OS), the most common malignant bone tumor, poses significant clinical challenges due to its aggressive progression and limited therapeutic options for metastatic disease[1]. Current preclinical models fail to replicate the mechanical and biochemical complexity of the bone microenvironment[2]. This study explores melt electrowriting (MEW) technology to...
Bulk hydrogels are comprised of nanoporous polymer networks, and thus restrict cell motility, cell-cell interactions, and nutrient diffusion in bioengineered tissues. To overcome these challenges, interest has shifted toward the fabrication of interconnected microporous hydrogels, which improve nutrient transport, facilitate cell migration, and promote tissue ingrowth. Current fabrication...
Introduction:
Internal cellularization of thick tissue scaffolds remains a central challenge in tissue engineering, often requiring complex and costly technologies. In this study, we developed a cost-effective chaotic bioprinting strategy to fabricate compartmentalized hydrogel filaments that simultaneously provide physical cues (hollow microchannels for enhanced mass transport) and chemical...
One of the most innovative areas of 3D printing development is bioprinting, the creation of biological structures using living cells and bioinks. This technology enables the production of tissue scaffolds that can serve as templates for regenerative cells. These applications include printing skin and cartilage, as well as preliminary attempts at printing organs such as kidneys, liver, and...
The myotendinous junction (MTJ) is a highly specialized interface that connects skeletal muscle to tendon, enabling the transmission of contractile forces and ensuring efficient biomechanical performance of the musculoskeletal system. Functionally, the MTJ plays a pivotal role in maintaining structural continuity between two developmentally distinct tissues—muscle and tendon—while withstanding...
There is much interest in biofabrication of tubular constructs for repair and regeneration of several tissues in the human body, such as blood vessels, nerve conduits, gastro-intestinal tract, and bile duct, among others. The rapidly growing field of additive manufacturing and 3D printing technologies is offering new routes for the processing of biomaterials for the fabrication of implants and...
Exploring the natural availability and intrinsic bioactivity of blood-derived proteins opens new avenues for fabricating bioactive and personalized constructs for biomedical applications. However, these biomaterials lack suitable viscoelastic proprieties for 3D printing of complex tissue structures. Ink engineering is progressively being utilized to advance the printability of better...
Polylactic acid (PLA) is an eco-friendly and biocompatible polymer commonly utilised in bone tissue engineering. However, its absence of antibacterial properties and susceptibility to wet chemical processes hinder its clinical application. Atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) is widely used for surface activation, but its application is typically confined to shallow surface modifications due to...
Problem: A fundamental problem for most tissue engineered constructs is the inability to provide a fully perfusing blood supply on implantation. That slows, if not prevents, healing within the treated site. If possible, standard-of-care autologous bone grafts are transplanted with their native vascular pedicle. In these cases, healing is unlikely to be hindered by an insufficient blood supply....
Introduction: Materials science and regenerative medicine are promising avenues for production of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) with biomimetic extracellular matrices (ECMs) [1–3]. However, many TEVGs exhibit poor mechanical compliance [4,5], with studies often overlooking the complex role of ECMs and mechanics. Here, highly compliant TEVGs were cultured in pulsatile bioreactors...
Cardiovascular surgery continues to face a shortage of suitable biomaterials for full-vessel bypass procedures and vascular patch repair. Current materials exhibit several limitations, including poor patency in small-diameter vessels, limited remodeling capacity, and a high risk of thrombosis [1]. While PLCL (poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone)) nanofiber sheets are biodegradable over several...
Abstract
Skeletal muscle plays a critical role in voluntary movement and metabolic regulation, and its dysfunction is implicated in the onset and progression of musculoskeletal and systemic diseases. While interest in the development of therapeutics for skeletal muscle disorders is steadily increasing, conventional in vitro models are limited by low throughput, the complexity of platform...
The regeneration of skeletal muscle (SM) tissue and its interfaces—namely the myotendinous junction (MTJ) and neuromuscular junction (NMJ)—remains a significant challenge in both engineering and clinical domains. Recent advances in biofabrication have begun to address these hurdles, enabling the creation of biomimetic architectures with precise spatial control over cellular organization and...
Introduction.
The growing demand for sustainable meat alternatives has accelerated research on culture meat. However, scalable production of fully edible meat-like structured constructs remains a challenge. In this study, we use chaotic bioprinting, extrusive bioprinting enabled by chaotic advection, using an enzymatic crosslinking agent, transglutaminase (TGase), to fabricate...
This talk will provide an overview of recent advances in bioinspired materials for therapeutic and regenerative medicine applications, with a particular focus on establishing translational pipelines to bring our innovations to the clinic [1]. We have developed fabrication methods to engineer complex 3D architectures and biofunctionalized surfaces, incorporating spatially arranged...
Introduction
Cartilage defects pose significant challenges in terms of healing. Current treatments have limitations in size, availability, or durability.[1,2] Biofabrication aims to restore tissue functionality by placing biological active components in a pre-defined 3D organization, typically using soft hydrogels for cell preferences.[3] These hydrogels can be mechanically reinforced with...
Introduction
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease affecting osteochondral (OC) tissue, leading to pain and joint dysfunction. Current treatments are often limited by availability, efficacy, and cost, highlighting the need for innovative therapeutic approaches. To address this challenge, we propose a novel tool EndoFLight, an advanced in situ 3D bioprinting platform designed for...
Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA) attractes considerable research attention as an important structural
component for bioinks.1 The synthesis of GelMA involves the methacrylation of gelatin, wherein methacryl groups are covalently bonded to the amino groups of lysine residues. The degree of methacrylation (DM) is a critical parameter that significantly affects the physicochemical properties of...
Introduction
Over the past few decades, extensive research has been actively conducted for the fabrication of human tissues to, amongst many applications, understand the effects of a wide range of chemicals on human health and the environment (1). Thus, the need for the development of innovative assessment tools that provide reliable results in identifying and regulating the risks of...
HYCON: A Hydrogel-based Conformable Electrode Array for Noninvasive Electrophysiological Recording of Brain Organoids
Introduction:
Brain organoids have become an essential tool for modeling human brain development, neurological disorders, and therapeutic interventions. However, designing reliable interfaces for these 3D, delicate structures remains a key challenge. Current...
Introduction:
Replicating physiologically relevant tissue environments in vitro requires both sophisticated biological design and reliable scalable fabrication. Current approaches often rely on complex biofabrication methods such as stereolithography (SLA) and melt electrowriting (MEW), which are time-intensive, laborious, and lack reproducibility at scale [1,2]. To overcome these...
Hydrogels are water-swollen polymer networks that have gained great interest in the field of medicine. While hydrogels are often used as uniform isotropic materials, their processing to include microstructural cues (e.g., porosity, patterning) can further enhance their use. I will provide several recent examples where we have developed methods to introduce microstructure into hydrogels. As...
In this study, we explore a hybrid biofabrication approach combining embedded 3D bioprinting and electrospinning to create bifurcated vasculature. A bifurcated graft is essential during open surgical repair when the aorto-iliac part of the vasculature is diseased. However, fabricating a tissue-engineered vascular graft (TEVG) that closely mimics the native blood vessel network presents...
Introduction and Aim
The in vitro generation of functional vasculature remains a major challenge. Current models use adult cells to mimic the three layers of native blood vessels. Yet, the coordinated morphogenetic events during vasculogenesis are key for vessel functionality and stability. iPSC-derived mesodermal progenitor cells (hiMPCs) remain viable and undergo vasculogenesis after...
Bone defects arising from trauma, infection, or tumor resection presented a major clinical challenge due to the limited self-repair capacity of large bone defects. In this study, a 3D-printed polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold incorporating copper-doped natural hydroxyapatite quantum dots (Cu-HA QDs) was designed to accelerate both osteogenesis and angiogenesis. The Cu-HA QDs were produced using...
Introduction
Prosthesis and implants are integral parts of modern healthcare, with silicones widely used for their chemical inertness, tissue-like mechanical properties, and adaptability. However, conventional techniques in silicone processing face limitations in structural complexity and patient specificity. 3D printing has emerged as a promising technique for creating personalized medical...
Introduction
One of the main issues limiting the wide-spread application artificial vascular grafts is a high risk of thrombosis due to elasticity mismatch and kinking hazard1. One of possible solutions to these problems is incorporating 3D printed reinforcement to the design of implant2.
The aim of this study is to inspect the possibility of 3D printing with elastic medical grade materials...
The trachea's complex anatomy presents a challenge in the reconstruction of long-segment tracheal airway defects. Its hierarchical architecture, composed of a fibrous outer layer, several cartilaginous rings providing structural integrity, and an inner mucosal lining, makes it challenging to engineer functional tracheal replacements [1]. The need for viable solutions is ever growing [2] due to...
Cochlear implants restore hearing in patients with severe to profound deafness by delivering electrical stimuli inside the cochlea. Understanding stimulus current spread, and how it correlates to patient-dependent factors, is hampered by the poor accessibility of the inner ear and by the lack of clinically-relevant in vitro, in vivo or in silico models. Here, we present 3D printing-neural...
Introduction
One of the major challenges in tissue engineering of three-dimensional (3D) functional tissues is achieving vascularization, which is critical for developing large, viable, and physiologically relevant in vitro models. Constructs exceeding 40 µm in thickness require vascular networks to sustain cell survival1, and blood vessels play a key role in supporting tissue homeostasis...
Biliary complications, such as post-operative biliary strictures, pose serious health risks and place a significant burden on healthcare systems. Conventional treatments, including plastic stents, require frequent replacement, while self-expanding metal stents, despite longer patency, carry risks such as migration and tissue ingrowth. Biodegradable scaffolds offer a promising alternative due...
Bioprinting is facing several scientific and technological challenges toward having a clear clinical impact. Together with the complexity of multimaterial and multiscale features required for the fabrication of functional and effective bioprinted constructs, it is necessary to consider the compelling request of a consistent high quality, including inter-batch variability, and safety (e.g.,...
The skeletal muscle tissue exhibits good regenerative capabilities, which are however limited by injury size. As a matter of fact, large muscle lesions are characterized by poor recovery accompanied by scar formation and functional detriment, condition common to people suffering from volumetric muscle loss and needing reconstructive therapeutic approaches. Even if surgical autologous...
Photonics-based bioprinting technologies are redefining the frontiers of tissue engineering by enabling the fabrication of complex, multiscale biological constructs with unprecedented precision and speed. This talk will present some recent advancements in light-based bioprinting platforms—including a new technology named Holographic Optical Tweezers Bioprinting (HOTB), Multimaterial Volumetric...
Background
Critical-size bone defects (CSDs), resulting from trauma, infection, or tumor resection, pose significant clinical challenges. Autologous bone grafting has limitations like donor site morbidity, necessitating novel strategies. Approaches mimicking endochondral ossification, crucial for bone development and healing, show promise for bone regeneration. Many studies involve seeding...
The efficacy of neural interfaces relies heavily on the interaction between conductive hydrogels and underlying substrates. However, the impact of substrate selection on hydrogel performance and cell viability under electrical stimulation remains under-explored. This study investigates the electrochemical behaviour of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)-based hydrogels interfaced with indium tin...
Introduction:
Three-dimensionally (3D)-printed bioceramic scaffolds composed of beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) have demonstrated the ability to support robust bone regeneration in critically sized calvarial defects. This bone formation is facilitated through two key biological mechanisms: osteoconduction, which guides new bone growth along the scaffold, and potentially dura-mediated...
Biofabrication is an advanced technology that holds great promise for constructing highly biomimetic in vitro three-dimensional human organs. Such technology would help address the issues of immune rejection and organ donor shortage in organ transplantation, aiding doctors in formulating personalized treatments for clinical patients and replacing animal experiments. Artificial intelligence...
Volumetric muscle loss (VML) refers to muscle tissue loss exceeding 20% within a functional area due to trauma or surgery, often leading to physical disabilities. VML treatment relies on the transplantation of autologous flaps harvested from a healthy-donor site while minimizing the probability of immune rejection. However, this approach often leads to donor-site morbidity and relies on a...
Introduction
Depression affects over 350 million individuals globally, with 20–30% developing treatment-resistant depression (TRD), a major contributor to suicide risk. Existing preclinical models inadequately recapitulate the complexity of the human neurovascular unit (NVU) and blood–brain barrier (BBB), thereby limiting the advancement of effective therapeutics. The objective of this study...
Micro- and nano-scale technologies can have a significant impact on medicine and biology in the areas of cell manipulation, diagnostics, and monitoring. At the convergence of these new technologies and biology, we research for enabling solutions to real-world problems at the clinic. Emerging nanoscale and microfluidic technologies integrated with biofabrication methods in biology offer...
In the last twenty years, the systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy approach left gradually place to a more personalized clinical concept, aiming to identify and target tumor peculiarities which make one tumor different from another. The lack of coherence between experimental results and in vivo effectiveness confirmed the limitation of using clonal 2D cell cultures to predict the efficacy of...
Bioprinting offers several advantages over traditional tissue engineering methods for creating scaffolds used in organ and tissue regeneration, primarily due to its precise and controlled processing of biomaterials. However, this technique—referred to as in vitro bioprinting—faces significant challenges when applied clinically. These include difficulties in scaffold handling, contamination...
Introduction
Biopolymers are widely used in biomedical applications due to their superior biocompatibility and customizable degradability compared to conventional biometals. Among them, polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biocompatible thermoplastic polymer with mechanical properties that make it suitable for a variety of biomedical uses [1]. One of the primary applications of PCL is in bone...
Introduction
The auditory system is essential for speech development, spatial orientation, and communication; dysfunction leads to hearing loss, affecting over 466 million individuals globally, making it one of the top five leading causes of the most years lived with disability [1]. Conductive hearing loss frequently arises from tympanic membrane perforation or ossicular chain disruption,...
Introduction:
Globally, almost two million bone transplants are performed using traditional methods like metallic implants and bone grafts that have their limitations. In this scenario, BTE has emerged as an advanced field to replace the conventional method by allowing a living tissue to be created within biological framework. Over the past few years, GelMA based hydrogels have been widely...
Introduction
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies, primarily due to its high mortality rate and frequent recurrence. The standard treatment, platinum-based chemotherapy, often becomes ineffective as patients develop platinum resistance, a process associated with enhanced metastatic potential, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and...
Introduction
3D-printed physical organ models have revolutionised the surgical field with applications in training, planning, rehearsal, and patient education[1]. Recent advancements in digital health technologies, such as the introduction of digital twins (DT) in medicine, present further opportunities where these models could play an important role. By developing a mechanically-realistic,...
Introduction
Cell carriers are being utilized in cell culture applications that demand efficiency and large volumes of cells, by utilizing the carriers high surface area in a relatively low volume [1]. Hydrogel microgels, which have been extensively utilized in tissue engineering could offer a platform to build tissue [2], but usually scalability of hydrogel microparticle production and a...
Self-assembling scaffolds enable enhanced adaptation to the human body environment thanks to a dynamic response to external stimuli. To produce such scaffolds, advanced biofabrication methods are required. Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a high-precision additive manufacturing technique, which enables the creation of fine fibers of molten polymer under the influence of an electrical field....
Introduction:
Osteochondral (OC) lesions to the knee represent a major burden from a societal and economic point of view, affecting young and active patients and predisposing them to develop post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Current treatments include marrow stimulation, autografts, and cell-based therapies; however, they all suffer from several limitations, including availability, cost and...
Introduction. Achieving physiologically relevant maturation of engineered skeletal muscle in vitro remains a major challenge in tissue engineering (1, 2). Traditional stimulation approaches often fail to recapitulate the spatiotemporal precision of native neuromuscular activation (3, 4). In this context, light-responsive molecular transducers represent a promising tool to drive muscle...
Introduction
One of the persistent challenges in the development of reliable in vitro tissue models is the inability to precisely and reproducibly control microarchitectures. This is especially critical for vascularized constructs, where network formation often relies on the stochastic self-assembly of randomly distributed cells, which leads to batch-to-batch variability, limited...
Introduction
Functional regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues requires engineered grafts that mimic the heterogenous and anisotropic structure and mechanics of the native tissue. Existing strategies fail to produce tissues that mimic this structural complexity, often leading to deficits in mechanical properties and repair failure in vivo. 3D bioprinting allows for the freeform patterning of...
Introduction: Ionic medicine is an approach that proposes the use of therapeutic ions to stimulate cell growth, reduce inflammation, combat oxidative stress, and promote tissue regeneration1. Biofabrication offers a solution for addressing muscle loss in situations where the human body cannot heal itself effectively2. To enhance muscle cell growth by ionic stimulation, this study established a...
Introduction
Immunohistological staining remains the gold standard for visualizing specific cellular and tissue structures, but it involves complex, time-consuming protocols, specialized reagents, and expert personnel. Its application to three-dimensional constructs or organoids is further limited by penetration depth, uniformity, and reproducibility. Virtual staining—digitally generating...
Understanding how spatial arrangements of diverse cell types within the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence cancer progression remains one of the foremost challenges in oncology. To address this, we have developed a suite of single-cell bioprinting technologies that enable engineering of tumor models with unprecedented spatial resolution in both two and three dimensions. Leveraging a...
Introduction
Bone is a dynamic tissue that experiences a wide range of forces during regular daily locomotion. This environment of dynamic strain strongly influences the architecture of the extracellular matrix, and it can impact the rate that bone adapts or recovers after an injury 1,2. Cell research is commonly performed in mechanically static conditions in the base of well plates, yet this...
Introduction
Chronic wounds are skin lesions that fail to heal naturally or through basic care. Pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and some oncologic and burn wounds present an open gateway for infections to attack the body [1]. Contributing to this scenario, often the patients have only one shot at reparative surgery, due to previous complications and/or the requirement of extended...
Introduction
Three-dimensional (3D) microtissue spheroids replicate native-like microenvironments and thus provide a model platform to study cell-matrix dynamics. Furthermore, modular bioassembly of these cell-dense units allows for precise control over 3D tissue architecture, while maintaining physiological cellular microenvironments. However, successful biofabrication of large-scale tissues...
Transforming Pre-Clinical Drug Testing: 3D Bioprinted Patient-Derived Breast Cancer Models on a Microfluidic Device
Pragati Sharma1 and Subha Narayan Rath1
1Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Laboratory (RMS), Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Sangareddy 502284, Telangana, India.
Correspondence: Subha Narayan Rath, Email:...
Introduction
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain leading cause of mortality worldwide, creating a pressing demand for engineering vascular grafts that can restore or replace damaged blood vessels1. Traditional fabrication techniques often lack the resolution, speed, and geometric complexity required to accurately replicate the intrinsic architecture of native vascular tissues2. In this...
Introduction: To date, no conjunctival spheroids have been reported, despite the conjunctiva’s vital role in maintaining ocular surface homeostasis and contributing to various ocular surface diseases. The conjunctiva is a dynamic, multi-cellular mucosal tissue that functions in barrier homeostasis, and tear film stabilization. However, physiologically relevant 3D in vitro models that replicate...
Introduction: Tissue function depends on the intricate 3D organization of cells, matrix components, bioactive cues, and dynamic factors like nutrient and oxygen gradients, and mechanical forces. Advances in bioprinting have enhanced cellular organization, yet full tissue maturation, critical for biological function, often requires post fabrication measures. Here, we introduce a novel method to...
Aphanothece sacrum polysaccharides (ASP) are sulfated polysaccharides derived from a cyanobacterium known as Suizenjinori, which is native to Japan. ASP has potential in food, cosmetics and medical treatments due to its high water retention, anti-inflammatory properties and hydrogel formation ability. Conventional ASP hydrogels are obtained by ionic crosslinking with metal or by physical...
Introduction
Skin regeneration, especially in large wounds, remains a clinical challenge due to the limited healing capacity of human skin.1 In situ bioprinting enables targeted tissue reconstruction by directly depositing bioinks onto injury sites, supporting the development of personalized regenerative therapies.2 For effective skin regeneration through in situ bioprinting, bioinks must...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving from an experimental curiosity to a robust companion throughout the scientific process. In the context of tissue engineering and biomaterials, AI is not limited to computational modeling or image processing—it now plays a supporting role at nearly every stage of the research lifecycle, from idea generation and literature review to experiment...
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Nanomedicine has shown significant potential in enhancing treatment outcomes and in overcoming the limitation of traditional therapeutic approaches. However, a major challenge lies in translating these advancements into clinical applications. To bridge this gap, we propose a 3D bioprinted model that mimics CRC...
Synthetic muscles that replicate the distinct contraction and force-generating properties of native skeletal muscle are highly sought after. They are used in a variety of applications, including actuators and regenerative therapies such as muscle replacement. Two-photon stereolithography is a promising tool to fabricate bio-scaffolds with micrometer resolution, ideally replicating soft native...
Introduction: Large bone defects present major clinical challenges due to insufficient regenerative capacity. Conventional approaches such as autografts are limited by donor site morbidity and immune complications. Bone tissue engineering (BTE) offers a promising alternative by providing biomimetic scaffolds capable of supporting cellular growth, vascularization, and osteogenesis. Recent...
Introduction
We have already shown that the Acoustic Droplet Ejection (ADE) technology facilitates the precise, nozzle-less transfer of cell-laden bioinks [1]. This technique offers an alternative to traditional bioprinting methods like microextrusion or inkjet, circumventing nozzle-related issues such as clogging and high wall shear stress. By eliminating the nozzle, ADE significantly...
The field of biofabrication has made significant strides in the development of kidney models, offering promising solutions for addressing the growing demand for organ transplants and advancing our understanding of renal physiology and pathology. Biofabrication techniques, including 3D printing, enable the creation of models through sacrificial approaches. 3D printing supports the manufacture...
The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) mediates the transfer of neural signals to skeletal muscle fibers, enabling muscle contraction. The structural organization of the NMJ is critical for efficient signal conduction, and disruptions in its morphology are associated with neuromuscular disorders. However, conventional in vitro models, including 2D culture systems and animal models, offer limited...
Introduction:
Biofabrication in space enables the production of patient-specific, structurally complex tissue constructs with customized properties (e.g., cell density, material composition, architecture), essential for future long-duration missions. Although substantial progress has been made in evaluating biofabrication strategies for space applications, the fabrication of anisotropic,...
Introduction
Medical devices are being revolutionized with the development of new materials and manufacturing processes. Nowadays, technology enables accurate biofabrication of patient-specific parts, which, while holding high potential for providing the best solutions for patients, presents challenges in designing regulatory-approved devices. This becomes even more challenging once the...
The available methods of reproducible formulation of human tumor microenvironments (hTMEs) that is micro-engineered systems incorporating cancer, stroma and extracellular matrix (ECM), that could serve as preclinical models of disease, e.g., in anti-cancer drug testing, currently suffer from excessive complexity (organ-on-chip systems) and/or low-throughput (3D bioprinted constructs). Here, we...
The field of bioprinting has experienced significant progress in recent years, particularly with the development of methods that enable in-situ bioprinting. Reliable in-situ bioink deposition requires accounting for physiological movements, as even under anesthesia, the body can still move due to breathing or involuntary movements. These motions can interfere with the quality of the printed...
Tendon tissue engineering remains a critical challenge due to the need for biomaterials that simultaneously support mechanical load bearing and guide lineage specific cellular differentiation. To address this, we designed a hybrid scaffold system that spatially integrates mechanical reinforcement and tenogenic bioactivity, aiming to mimic native tendon properties more closely than conventional...
Introduction
Skeletal muscle is a highly organized and heterogeneous tissue composed of multiple cell types and structural components, arranged in a complex hierarchical architecture. This structure is essential for its mechanical strength, contractile function, and ability to regenerate. Skeletal muscles possess a strong capacity for self-repair; however, they are unable to regenerate...
Introduction
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, accounting for approximately 1.6 million deaths annually [1]. Among them, myocardial infarction (MI) is particularly concerning due to its high incidence, mortality, and adverse prognosis. These challenges are amplified in ageing populations, making MI a growing public health issue. Current treatment...
Introduction
3D in-vitro models offer a more accurate simulation of in-vivo conditions than traditional 2D cell cultures. Vascularization is currently a hot topic in tissue modeling, helping to mimic the in-vivo environment, adding physiological relevance, and aiding the supply of nutrient and oxygen as the removal of metabolic waste1. Also, perfused vascular networks allow better biomimicry...
Introduction
Light-based biofabrication techniques have revolutionized the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.[1] Specifically, the projection of structured light, where the spatial distribution of light is controlled at both macro- and micro-scale, has enabled precise fabrication of complex three-dimensional structures with high resolution and speed.[2] However, despite...
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive and heterogeneous brain tumor, making it particularly difficult to replicate its complex tumor microenvironment (TME) in vitro. One promising approach involves using GBM-derived decellularized extracellular matrices (dECMs), which closely mimic the native TME. These dECMs contain tumor-specific biochemical components such as glioma-associated...
Bone is a dynamic tissue composed of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes, which continuously undergo bone formation and resorption through a process known as bone remodeling. This balance between formation and resorption is tightly regulated by intricate cell–cell interactions. Bone organoid research aims to replicate the characteristics of native bone tissue in vitro; however, the...
Introduction: Globally, ovarian cancer (OC) ranks as the most common cancer among gynecological malignancies. Recent research highlights the critical importance of the perioperative phase in deterring tumor recurrence. During this time, chemotherapy is the predominant treatment method, and numerous drugs have been developed for this purpose [1,2]. However, a major challenge is sustaining the...
3D bioprinting is a key methodology in biofabrication, enabling precise spatial placement of cellular, polymeric, organic, and inorganic components to construct three-dimensional biological structures. Extrusion-based bioprinting is widely used, as it supports the printing of hydrogels across a broad viscosity range, accommodates the inclusion of cells and cell spheroids for large-scale...
Introduction/Objectives
Injectable hydrogels can support the body's innate healing capability following defect or lesion removal by providing a temporary matrix for host cell ingrowth and regeneration. However, the clinical adoption of current injectable systems remains low due to issues like product dislodgment during administration, nanoporous structures that limit cell infiltration, and...
Abstract:
Introduction:
Islet transplantation is a promising therapeutic avenue for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM),
yet its efficacy is limited by inadequate extracellular matrix (ECM) support and
microenvironmental cues that affect beta-cell viability and insulin secretion. Furthermore,
continuous and accurate monitoring of insulin release is essential for evaluating...
Using natural polymers as biomedical materials for diverse clinical applications has consistently been a focus for scientists. Natural polymers have properties tailored to the specific needs of living organisms and, as a result, have interesting properties of the relevant tissues and are similar to the extracellular matrix. Among the various natural polymers, bacterial cellulose has been...
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an age-associated disorder characterized by progressive fibrosis of lung tissue, with TGF-β1 acting as a critical pro-fibrotic factor. Recent studies highlight that epithelial-fibroblast crosstalk, particularly involving senescent lung epithelial (LE) cells, plays a pivotal role in fibrosis progression. Moreover, the extracellular matrix (ECM) and tissue...
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to develop an in vitro 3D model of ovarian cancer, which could help investigate potential anticancer drugs and factors related to angiogenesis. Experimental models that capture tumor structure and incorporate angiogenic processes are in high demand. Angiogenesis is a key stage in tumor development, playing a vital role by supporting blood vessel...
The skin, being the body's largest and most exposed organ, is susceptible to various injuries. Overcoming challenges in wound healing necessitates innovative solutions. This study focuses on advancing skin tissue engineering by developing a bio-ink based on an extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from Porcine duodenum, rich in nutrients and growth factors (IGF, EGF, TGF β-1). Porcine duodenum,...
Introduction
The development of functional 3D tissue models has showed significant improvement over traditional 2D cell cultures, as they better mimic the real cell micro-environment. However, in this context, one of the main bottlenecks relates to the difficulty in integrating fully embedded, complex and perfusable vasculature within 3D scaffolds. Even though numerous strategies have been...
Native tissue formation relies on spatio-temporal patterns of cellular proliferation and differentiation occurring over the course of months. In contrast, most biofabrication processes aim to reconstruct full-scale tissue from scratch. This developmental shortcut leads to the well-documented shortcomings in vascularization or innervation. In this work, we present an alternative approach that...
HYCON: A Hydrogel-based Conformable Electrode Array for Noninvasive Electrophysiological Recording of Brain Organoids
Introduction:
Brain organoids have become an essential tool for modeling human brain development, neurological disorders, and therapeutic interventions. However, designing reliable interfaces for these 3D, delicate structures remains a key challenge. Current...
Tissue adhesives with bioactivity, mechanical integrity, biocompatibility, and rapid sealing are critical for wound healing, especially in severe skin injuries. Traditional suturing/stapling have downsides, such as healing delays, infection risk, and poor aesthetics. Biofabricated tissue adhesives offer minimally invasive, tailored biologically active wound closure. Thus, in-situ bioprinting...
Introduction
Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture techniques have become particularly important for the study of lymphoma cells, which are non-adherent and difficult to culture in traditional two-dimensional (2D) systems, and provide cellular environments that better mimic the in vivo tumour microenvironment. Conventional 2D cultures fail to replicate critical features such as cell-cell and...
rhCollagen Bioinks for Biofabrication
Cohen S.; Noor N.; Seror J.; Olami H.; Braiman U. Grienberg R. Ioffe K; Buravenkov V. and
Gazal E.
CollPlant Biotechnologies Ltd., 4 Oppenheimer St, Rehovot, Israel
Introduction
Bioinks are a cornerstone of 3D bioprinting, providing the essential biological and mechanical framework required for the precise deposition of living cells, biomaterials,...
Introduction
Melt-electrowriting (MEW) is an additive manufacturing technology with the potential to produce regenerative scaffolds that replicate key aspects of the hierarchical structure of musculoskeletal tissues. As small scale polymeric fibres can be accurately deposited using MEW, highly porous 3D scaffolds with well-defined and repeatable pore dimensions can be produced. Herein, we...
Introduction
Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an additive manufacturing technique in which continuous microfibers are formed from polymer melts using an electric field. The fibers are drawn to a desired thickness by electrostatic forces and deposited on a collector at a different electric potential using a conventional motion system. Due to its origins in tissue engineering, a vast majority of...
ABSTRACT
In this study, we have developed a modified microfluidic T-junction tubing apparatus to fabricate high-throughput hydrogel-encapsulated personalized breast cancer organoids. We have used mineral oil as a continuous phase and decellularized adipose tissue hydrogel (DAT) encapsulated patient-derived cancer cells as a dispersed phase to generate homogeneous organoids. After assembly,...
Introduction
The global burden of cardiovascular diseases, particularly myocardial infarction (MI), continues to rise, driving the need for advanced therapeutic strategies that can restore damaged heart tissue1. Traditional approaches, such as pharmacological interventions and surgical procedures, do not address the fundamental issue of myocardial regeneration. Moreover, the scarcity of donor...
Introduction
A microfluidic device supported by a hydrogel matrix and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is a promising tool in developing cancer cell research. These innovative lab-on-chip (LOC) systems enable precise microenvironment control, mimicking in vivo conditions to enhance cancer colony growth and, next, cancer treatment. The integration of hydrogels with microfluidic platforms facilitates...
Biomaterials and Bioreactor with ISO 13485 Standards – Reliable Tools for Everyday Research.
One of the biggest challenges in organoid and tissue engineering research is reproducibility. Small changes in bioinks composition or inconsistent bioreactor settings often lead to different results, even when protocols are similar. This slows down projects and makes it hard to compare data across...
Tissue engineering methods and regenerative medicine innovations rely on scaffold materials and their fabrication methods [1]. Scaffolds should be biocompatible, biodegradable, and possess mechanical properties suitable for tissue engineering while mimicking the natural tissue structure [2]. Additionally new organic or inorganic incorporated materials could improve scaffold hydrophilicity,...
Introduction
Biodegradable and piezoelectric poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) is gaining attention for biomedical applications, especially in the field of tissue regeneration, based on piezoelectrically-induced electrical cell stimulation. (1,2) However, PLLA possess weaker piezoelectric properties than non-biodegradable poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVDF. (3) Enhancing PLLA’s piezoelectricity can be...
Introduction
Osteoporosis (OP) is one of the most common metabolic bone diseases, affecting over 200 million people worldwide. At the cellular level, OP occurs due to an imbalance between resorptive osteoclasts and bone-forming osteoblasts. There are several subtypes of OP, this research focuses on the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis.
Methods
The planning of an appropriate in...
Introduction
Corneal injuries are a leading cause of vision loss worldwide due to the cornea’s exposed position and precise optical structure.[1] While clinical transplantation is effective, it is limited by donor availability and graft rejection. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy offers a promising alternative, promoting corneal wound healing through cell replacement, immunomodulation, and...
The rapid evolution of biomedical technologies is transforming both research and clinical practice, creating new opportunities to improve both human and animal health. BioCloner Health develops a multifunctional system for biofabrication that integrates tools, platforms, and processes to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and practical application. The focus is on purposeful...
Introduction
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most mortality disease globally, and the effective method of its treatment is still unknown. For this reason, there is growing interest in the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can differentiate into all cells in the human body, including induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) which have the...
Introduction
Additive technologies have propelled the popularity of personalized medicine, expanding the adaptation of various biomaterials for additive processing. Sodium alginate (SA) and chitosan (CS) are natural-based, biopolymers that are characterized by simplicity of preparation, ease of modification, and wide availability, and exhibit great potential in additive manufacturing...
Work Title
MAY THE FORCE SHAPE YOU: HARNESSING PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES IN MSC DERIVED MICROTISSUES TO ENGINEER SCALED UP CARTILAGE GRAFTS
Introduction
Articular cartilage (AC) exhibits a unique zonal architecture essential for joint function, characterized by collagen fiber orientation that shifts from parallel at the surface to radial in the deep zone. Tissue-engineered AC grafts using...
Bioprinting has rapidly advanced into a key enabling technology for biomedical research, offering unique capabilities to fabricate complex biological architectures with high precision and adaptability. Its versatility spans a wide range of resolutions, making it possible to construct both large-scale scaffolds and finely detailed microstructures. Central to the success of this approach is the...
Introduction
Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting offers high precision and flexibility in constructing in-vitro biological environments. Its role in tissue engineering research and applications has grown significantly in recent years1. When combined with microfluidics, bioprinting enables the production of microgels that provide more stable and diverse environments for cells, thereby reducing...
Bioprinting has made remarkable progress in the fabrication of functional tissues and organ constructs, ushering in a new era of personalized medicine with applications in transplantation, drug testing, research, and disease modeling. Bio3DPrinting has taken a significant step towards clinical translation by introducing Electrospider, a bioprinting ecosystem engineered for versatile multiscale...
Musculoskeletal interface injuries, especially at the tendon-bone junctions, present a significant clinical challenge due to their limited ability to regenerate and the structural complexity of native tissues. Current treatment methods often do not restore biomechanical functionality, highlighting the need for advanced biomimetic scaffolds. Our goal is to engineer tissue-specific constructs...
INTRODUCTION
A sustainable alternative to traditional meat is cultivated meat, which is the growth of animal muscle tissue in laboratories. This technology aims to create a cell-laden product that replicates the texture, composition, and structure of conventional meat.[1] However, the hydrogels commonly used in tissue engineering techniques, whether as cast scaffolds or bioinks, often lack...
Introduction
Air leaking is a common problem associated with lung surgery. Surgical sealants implemented to leakage area present a promising solution for postoperative pulmonary air leaks. Particularly, sealant effectiveness depends on mechanical compatibility with the visceral pleura and mismatched mechanical properties can cause leaks, detachment from the tissue, or even tissue damage. A...
Nippi Inc., a Japanese manufacturer of collagen and gelatin, has spent over a century dedicated to improving people’s quality of life and developing breakthrough products. Guided by our longstanding philosophy of “Quality the First,” we remain committed to supporting the future of human well-being as experts in protein engineering.
At this exhibition, we will showcase our highly...
Introduction
Current treatment for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders consisting of pain mitigation or surgical invasion, remain limited. Conventional scaffold fabrication techniques, such as fused deposition modeling, lack microscale resolution necessary to recreate the architecture of TMJ cartilage. In contrast, melt electrowriting (MEW) is a high-resolution additive manufacturing...
Introduction:
Polyphenols are a diverse group of naturally occurring organic compounds with potent antioxidant properties. These compounds play a crucial role in the prevention of various lifestyle-related diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and neurodegenerative conditions [1]. Among them, myricetin (MYR) stands out due to its well-documented health-promoting effects such...
Introduction
Wound healing follows a five-stage process when skin tissue is injured, but factors like wound size and patient health may require additional interventions [1]. Tissue-engineered structures, especially electrospun meshes, offer enhanced regeneration by mimicking the skin’s extracellular matrix, promoting hemostasis, absorbing exudate, and minimizing scarring [2]. However,...
Introduction
In situ bioprinting is a field of tissue engineering that employs the additive manufacturing of soft implants directly into the patient. In this biofabrication technique, the implant is printed layer by layer on the site of repair to achieve the desired anatomy. As the body is not a perfectly flat surface, non-planar algorithms for toolpath generation [1] can help to enhance the...
Printing geometrically complex structures requires the preparation of advanced G-code templates to control the printer accurately. Most available slicers are optimized for FDM printing using thermoplastics, which solidify rapidly upon cooling. In contrast, collagen-based bioinks solidify much more slowly and require precise temperature control during printing to prevent degradation while...
Introduction:
The development of biomaterials for tissue engineering applications requires a delicate balance between biocompatibility and mechanical performance. While ensuring a material’s compatibility with living tissues is essential to avoid adverse immune responses, mechanical strength and the ability to fine-tune it are equally critical to support tissue regeneration and withstand...
The use of opti-ox™ as a forward programming method has demonstrated remarkable potential in enhancing the differentiation speed and quality of pluripotent cells, particularly in the context of cultivated meat production. Pluripotent cells represent a promising resource for the development of cultivated meat, offering a sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional meat production....
Standing on the shoulders of a generation of great researchers, our fields of tissue engineering and biofabrication have witnessed an inspiring progress over the past decade. The versatility of innovations and technologies are also creating opportunities for applications and innovations on new research avenues: One of those is cellular agriculture – the animal-free production of dairy and meat...
A new approach in tissue engineering is the development of Cell- and Organ-on-a-chip systems. Thanks to the miniaturization, ensuring flow conditions and obtaining specific parameters such as large surface-to-volume (SAV) ratio and effective culture volume (ECV) it is possible to obtain culture conditions closer to in vivo. Microsystems have microstructures, in which different 3D culture...
Porous scaffolds are fundamental components in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, serving as essential frameworks that support and guide the growth, attachment, and proliferation of cells. These scaffolds mimic the natural extracellular matrix, providing a three-dimensional environment conducive to tissue development. One of the most critical features of these scaffolds...
Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA) attractes considerable research attention as an important structural
component for bioinks.1 The synthesis of GelMA involves the methacrylation of gelatin, wherein methacryl groups are covalently bonded to the amino groups of lysine residues. The degree of methacrylation (DM) is a critical parameter that significantly affects the physicochemical properties of...
Vascularization is critical for successful tissue regeneration, as it ensures adequate oxygen, nutrient delivery, and waste removal within engineered constructs. Without a functional vascular network, large or complex tissues are prone to necrosis and poor integration with host tissues. Rapid and stable vascular ingrowth is therefore essential for the survival and functionality of regenerated...
Bone tissue engineering aims to develop biomaterials that can effectively repair and regenerate damaged bone tissue. Polycaprolactone and calcium phosphate, which are used in this field, are among the most widely used biocompatible materials. However, these materials lack antimicrobial properties and are vulnerable to bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, which can lead to implant failure....
The LUMINATE consortium develops a personalized, one-stage regenerative approach to target large osteochondral lesions, thus preventing post-traumatic osteoarthritis and the associated patient burden. The LUMINATE consortium aims to develop an in situ bioprinting unit, called EndoFLight, which combines three pinting methods (filamented light, micro-extrusion, jetting) to print cartilage and...
Introduction
Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is hallmarked by a dense, collagen-rich stroma, driven by the activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), which remodel the extracellular matrix (ECM) into a mechanically stiff microenvironment that promotes tumor progression and therapeutic resistance.1,2 To accurately mimic this fibrotic transformation in vitro, we engineered 3D...
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a synthetic, biodegradable aliphatic polyester widely used in tissue engineering and has been FDA-approved for various medical devices. However, its long-term performance is compromised by undesirable issues such as surface biofilm formation and a foreign body response (FBR)[1]. These adverse biological processes not only reduce scaffold functionality but also trigger...
Introduction: The production of acetylcholine (ACh), a neurotransmitter regulating cardiac function, is significantly reduced following myocardial damage in vivo. Previous studies demonstrated that ACh administration can be used to reduce infarct size following myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic-reperfusion (I/R) injury in in vivo animal models. This has been associated with ACh-mediated...
The development of cell-based foods, including cultivated meat, poultry, and fish, represents a promising solution to address the growing demand for sustainable protein sources. However, scaling up production while maintaining desirable texture and sensory attributes remains a key challenge. Biofabrication techniques offer innovative approaches to automate the processing of large cell masses...
In recent years, several new PIs started their groups focused on Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication. Based on our internal discussions, we are all facing the same challenges, such as 1) how to overcome general challenges of the first years while establishing your group; 2) how to create your novel niche as a young PI in such a competitive field; 3) how to balance interactions with previous...
We are attempting to rebuild tissue-like structures from cells as an approach to better understand development, physiology and disease. Here I will describe our recent work in engineering perfusable vasculature to understand the complex interplay between architecture, forces, signaling, and cellular adhesions in regulating vessel formation, function, and dysfunction. The presentation will...
Introduction
Although cellularized biomaterial constructs have significantly advanced tissue repair and regenerative medicine, their clinical translation remains limited due to labor-intensive preparation processes and inadequate shelf-life. Therefore, creating modular, shelf-ready, cellularized products with long-term preservation capability and immediate clinical utility is critically...
Introduction: Retinal pathologies affect more than 350 million people worldwide yearly, impairing visual acuity and quality of life [1-3]. Despite therapy procedures for these pathologies already existing, more effective and patient-friendly ones are the subject of research. Animal models, mainly used in this field, are expensive, time-consuming and present regulatory issues [4]. On the other...
A fundamental limitation with current approaches aiming to bioprint tissues and organs is an inability to generate constructs with truly biomimetic composition and structure, resulting in the development of engineered tissues that cannot execute their specific function in vivo. This is perhaps unsurprising, as many tissues and organs continue to mature postnatally, often taking many years to...
INTRODUCTION: Embedded bioprinting is a promising additive manufacturing technique permitting the fabrication of large-scale, freeform, complex 3D tissue constructs. During the development of new (bio)inks, the shape-stability of extruded strands plays a major role. To stabilize strands post-extrusion, while allowing for smooth extrusion with limited pressures, shear thinning inks are commonly...
Leather has long been valued for its aesthetic appeal and performance, serving humanity for centuries. However, traditional leather production places significant strain on natural resources, particularly water, and contributes to chemical pollution. While plastic-based alternatives have attempted to replicate leather, they often fall short in craftsmanship and aesthetic appeal.
This...
The basement membrane (BM) is a crucial extracellular matrix that provides structural support, regulates cell adhesion and migration, and influences cell behavior in various organs. Composed of proteins like collagen and laminin, it plays essential roles in tissue development, repair, and homeostasis. Disruptions in the BM are linked to diseases such as cancer and fibrosis. However, its...
Colorectal diseases are a cohort of pathologies that affect the mucosa and submucosa layers of the anus, rectum, and colon of more than 2 million individuals in the European Union [1]. Among them, familiar adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and ulcerative colitis (UC) seriously compromise the patients’ quality of life. These pathologies could benefit from the removal of the intestinal mucosa and...
Academic publishing can be useful in helping to shape your career trajectory, especially in the early stages of research. This presentation offers a practical and strategic overview of how publishing can enhance visibility, credibility, and your professional opportunities. It will explore how to successfully promote your work through social media, academic networks, and institutional platforms...
Unlocking natural-based multimaterial 3D printing by engineering the nanocomposite organic/inorganic interface
J.R. Maia1, Daniel S. Fidalgo2, Marco Parente2, R. Sobreiro-Almeida1, J. F. Mano1
1 Department of Chemistry, CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
2 Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering...
Introduction
Hydrogels are three-dimensional networks of polymers that can absorb and store large amounts of water. Conventional hydrogels are based on static covalent crosslinks, which limits their adaptability to varying mechanical loads and environmental conditions. In supramolecular hydrogels the chains in the network are connected by reversible physical bonds that confer viscoelastic...
Introduction The kidney glomerulus acts as the blood-filtering unit in the kidney and plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis. The glomerular filtration barrier is a size-selective filter composed of endothelial cells and podocytes, separated by the glomerular basement membrane. Dysfunction of the barrier can result in proteinuria, often followed by progressive renal damage and kidney...
What does it take to transform academic research into a thriving spin-out company? In this talk, Jasper, CEO of BIO INX, shares his journey from PhD research in biomaterials for biofabrication to the creation of BIO INX, a company dedicated to accelerating the translation of biomaterials into practice. He will explore the essential steps along the way—navigating the shift from researcher to...
While three dimensional-bioprinting has already gained global attention as a rapidly advancing field, the creation of properly vascularized tissues remains challenging. Extrusion-based bioprinting is specifically interesting for the fabrication of large tissues, but has a limited resolution. Therefore, with extrusion-based bioprinting, microvasculature formation through self-assembly is...
Introduction:
Deep vat printing (DVP) techniques, such as tomographic (Figure 1A) and filamented light (FLight) (Figure 1B) printing, have advanced biofabrication by enabling high-resolution, layer-free fabrications at unprecedented speeds[1]. Despite, collagen being the most widely used matrix in tissue engineering, its compatibility with DVP remained unexplored. Within this work, we...
Traumatic injuries to the osteochondral tissues of diarthrodial joints like the knee result in pain, functional impairment, and increased risk of developing post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) and its comorbidities. Strikingly, up to 50% of patients suffering from severe trauma to the knee joint develop PTOA within 10 years from the injury. Current treatments, based on allografts, cell-free...
The major challenges in new drug development are the low translational efficiency (<10%), soaring costs (>$5 billion/drug) and ethical concerns regarding animal welfare. The emergence of a novel research field with bioengineering promises to offer new strategies to create non-animal models using human cell lines to address these shortcomings. Absence of vascularisation is one of the main...
The structural alignment of cells is a hallmark of functional neural and neuromuscular tissues. However, replicating this anisotropic architecture in engineered three-dimensional (3D) constructs remains a significant challenge in tissue engineering. In this study, we introduce a cryobioprinting strategy capable of fabricating aligned, multi-cell-type scaffolds for modeling neural tissues and...
The fabrication of biomimetic, multiscale, and multimaterial vascular networks remains a central challenge in tissue engineering and organ fabrication. We introduce an advanced light-based bioprinting framework that combines three advanced methodologies - Holographic Optical Tweezers Bioprinting (HOTB), multimaterial Digital Light Processing (DLP), and volumetric DLP bioprinting - to overcome...
Creating scalable and functional tissue constructs is a critical challenge in tissue engineering and cultured meat production. However, current methodologies are limited by inadequate nutrient delivery, resulting in inconsistent tissue growth and limited scale-up capability.
To address this, we developed a novel hollow fiber bioreactor (HFB) featuring densely packed arrays of...
Organ transplantation remains the only curative treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease, yet the chronic shortage of donor organs leaves thousands of patients without timely access to life-saving therapies. Approximately 25% of patients on the liver transplant waiting list either die or deteriorate beyond eligibility. To address this critical gap, the NEOLIVER project aims to...
Introduction
With a growing world population, humanity faces increasing demands for food and availability of meat. Conventional mass production is inefficient, uses up valuable resources, and leads to detrimental ecological and ethical consequences. Cellular agriculture applies muscle tissue engineering principles to develop future protein sources. While proof-of-concept generation of...
Background:
The global rise of skin infections, exacerbated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, is nowadays a great challenge to healthcare. Traditional treatments are increasingly losing their potential, leading to severe impacts on patient quality of life and survival rates. Consequently, many efforts are made to develop innovative antibacterial therapies. To test this new strategies,...
Introduction
Tissue engineering aims to develop functional tissues for regenerative medicine. To achieve this, vascularization is essential, particularly in thick constructs where diffusion alone is insufficient. Neural tissues are especially challenging due to their high metabolic needs and reliance on dense vascular networks1. Although recent strategies have attempted to recreate...
Background
Access to healthy living tissue in the lab has always been an essential substrate for experimentation across the breadth of medical research. Historically limited to live animal studies using small mammals such as rats, and subsequently more anatomically and physiologically analogous animals such as pigs, recent developments in cellular technologies have allowed for the in-vitro...
Background
Biofabrication technologies are advancing rapidly, offering novel therapeutic strategies for regenerating complex tissue defects. The LUMINATE project, co-funded under the Horizon Europe programme, focuses on the development of an AI-powered bioprinter for intraoperative repair of osteochondral tissue. The device combines high-precision material deposition and AI-powered process...
Colorectal diseases refer to a range of conditions that affect the mucosal and submucosal layers of the anus, rectum, and colon, impacting over 2 million individuals across the European Union [1]. Among these, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and ulcerative colitis (UC) significantly reduce the quality of life of affected patients. While these conditions might benefit from removing the...
Introduction
The development of sustainable, structured cultivated meat represents a major challenge where tissue engineering and food technology must converge. Despite important achievements in recent years — including the isolation and expansion of satellite cells, and the blending of animal cells with plant-based matrices — replicating the hierarchical microarchitecture of real meat...
The development of physiologically relevant vascular models remains a major challenge in tissue engineering, particularly when using extrusion-based 3D bioprinting with soft, liquid-like biomaterials. To overcome limitations related to structural instability and gravity, the Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH) method enables mid-air bioprinting within a temporary...
Objectives: Volumetric bioprinting (VBP) technologies have demonstrated unparalleled potential for printing centimeter-sized engineered tissues, with intricate architectures, in minutes. However, they still face limitations in scalability and resolution. Recently, a next-generation volumetric 3D printing technique named Xolography was introduced. Xolography operates by intersecting a UV-light...
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly specialized neurovascular interface that regulates the selective exchange of molecules between the bloodstream and the central nervous system, playing a critical role in maintaining brain homeostasis (Cruz et al., 2023). Despite advances in in vitro modeling, many existing BBB models lack the structural and functional complexity necessary to fully...
Bioprinting with high cell-density bioinks holds great promise for cellular condensation-based tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, achieving precise control over complex tissue structures and organization using high cell-density bioinks remains a significant challenge. Here, we introduce a novel approach for fabricating tissue-specific constructs by directly assembling high...
AI-Enhanced Bioprinting: Intelligent Monitoring, Optimization and Virtual Prototyping.
Introduction
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into bioprinting is revolutionizing the field of biofabrication. Traditionally based on experimental methods and manual trial-and-error, bioprinting is now evolving into a predictive and adaptive science. AI enables...
How can we durably regenerate damaged tissues in the human body? Despite major advances in regenerative medicine, this fundamental question remains largely unanswered. Current cell-based tissue engineering strategies allow us to create living implants in the laboratory, and through biofabrication we can design constructs that resemble native tissues in composition and morphology. However,...
The human nervous system is one of the most complex to model in vitro. It encompasses the largest diversity of cell types, with the most intricate ‘hub-and-spoke’ networks. Advancements in stem cell biology have enabled development of more sophisticated 3D models of the ‘hub’, i.e. central nervous system, with the emergence of organoids and assembloids. However, 3D models of the ‘spoke’...
In many therapeutic treatments, only a small fraction of the administered drug is absorbed, and a large part is wasted and released into the environment. Drug waste means economic loss and environmental risk. We present drug eluting materials with the unique property to self-produce biopharmaceuticals directly at the therapeutic site. The materials are hydrogels that host biofactories of...
In the human body, tubular structures are prevalent and exhibit various architectures, such as those found in the vascular and lymphatic systems. For instance, blood vessels can be viewed as tubular constructs with a specific diameter when considering their macroscopic shape. A closer examination reveals that these vessels consist of multiple layers, each composed of different extracellular...
The manipulation of three-dimensional (3D) cellular structures such
as organoids and spheroids plays a central role in modern biomedical
applications, including tissue engineering, drug screening, and disease
modeling. However, the accurate and reproducible transfer of these fragile
structures remains a technical bottleneck. Manual handling is limited by user
variability, lacks...
Natural ecosystems, such as forests and aquatic systems, offer efficient pathways for carbon (CO2) sequestration, outperforming industrial carbon capture and storage methods in terms of resilience and environmental impact. These systems operate under ambient conditions, using sunlight and commonly available small molecules as their inputs. Harnessing the capabilities of natural systems offers...
Current clinical approaches for tendon injuries and disorders remain limited, often leading to suboptimal outcomes such as poor healing and high reinjury rates. Tissue engineering holds promise as an alternative, yet the unique characteristics of tendon tissue—its complex hierarchical architecture, distinct biomechanical properties, sensitivity to mechanical stimuli, and inherently low...
During brain morphogenesis, neurons extend axons over large distances along well-defined pathways. Axon pathfinding is regulated by both chemical and mechanical signals. However, we currently know very little about how these signals interact. We here show how local mechanical brain tissue properties contribute to guiding neuronal axons. In vivo time-lapse atomic force microscopy revealed...
Biointelligence is an emerging paradigm in manufacturing that integrates bio-inspired principles and biological components with hardware and software to create intelligent, adaptive, and biologically interactive production systems. Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology that supports Biointelligence by enabling the fabrication of high-resolution,...
Constructing an in vitro vascularized liver tissue model that mimics the human liver plays a key role in promoting cell growth and biomimetic physiological heterogeneous structures and cellular microenvironments. However, the layer-by-layer printing method is greatly limited by the rheological properties of the bioink, making it difficult to form complex three-dimensional vascular structures...
Introduction: Bone tissue engineering (TE) aims to develop biomaterials that replicate the specific mechanical strength essential for the functional characteristics of the bone (1). Osteoblastic spheroids provide a three-dimensional (3D) culture model that better mimics in vivo conditions than traditional two-dimensional (2D) cultures. Amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP), derived from eggshell...
Embedding modified microorganisms in polymeric and composite matrices, thereby generating genetically programmable Engineered Living Materials (ELM), is a field of high potential that gained tremendous momentum with the advent of the Synthetic Biology era. Among the numerous methods for designing and manufacturing ELM, 3D bioprinting stands out due to its remarkable ability to precisely...
Introduction
A deeper insight into the tumor microenvironment (TME) is crucial for advancing cancer research. In order to study the TME in depth, 3D cell culture models are preferred over traditional 2D cultures, as they offer a more accurate representation of cellular behaviour and functional aspects, when interacting with an extracellular matrix (ECM) like structure. This includes key...
The work concerns the development and characterization of novel water-soluble photoinitiators based on benzoin derivatives for the initiation of radical photopolymerization processes in aqueous media. The main objective of the study was to create compounds that combine high performance, good water solubility, low cellular toxicity and spectral compatibility with commonly used UV and VIS light...
The development of innovative bioinks and bioprinting strategies is critical for advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Collagen, a major structural protein in the extracellular matrix, is widely used in bioink formulations due to its biocompatibility and ability to support cell growth and differentiation. However, a primary challenge with collagen-based inks is their low...
In 3D extrusion bioprinting, precise and reliable material deposition is essential for fabricating consistent tissue constructs. However, elastic components like disposable syringes and flexible tubing introduce unpredictable deformation and backlash, decoupling piston movement from actual material extrusion. The challenge is further amplified with high-viscosity, non-Newtonian bioinks, whose...
Introduction
External forces, notably in traumatic brain injury, can cause tissue-level damage [1, 2]. Meanwhile, mechanical cues on a smaller scale are pivotal in shaping the development, behavior, and function of individual neural cells [3]. Advancing our understanding of injury and disease mechanisms in the central nervous system depends on investigating how cellular forces and tissue...
While the research on Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) is picking up speed, our cooperation project “ContainELMs” in the priority program 2451 of the German Research Foundation focuses on a critical, yet underexplored aspect: biocontainment. While previous studies on hybrid ELMs have demonstrated their general functionality, safe containment of living cells remains a challenge.1,2
This...
Despite advances in surgical reconstruction of the head and neck region in recent years, several clinical scenarios continue to pose significant reconstructive challenges such as the reconstruction of complex maxillofacial defects affected by chemotherapy, and/or radiation. The common factor which makes these typically post-traumatic or post oncologic defects difficult to treat is the...
Spherical-based architected scaffolds have gained increased interest in tissue engineering (TE) due to their curved architecture, which inherently reduces stress concentrations and enables controlled mechanical performance. However, designing and optimising such architectures remains challenging because of the intricate relationship between their structural and functional properties.
This...
Title
Fabrication of Symbiotic Engineered Living Materials for Bone–Fat Interface Modelling
Introduction
The fabrication of in vitro tissues commonly involves the embedding of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) within a hydrogel matrix and the addition of biochemical or physical cues to passively instigate differentiation into a desired lineage. The PRISM-LT project adopts a proactive approach...
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive brain tumor, interacts with its tumor microenvironment (TME) through complex mechanisms. GBM-TME interactions are primary drivers of tumor malignancy and progression. The TME consists of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and various cells of the brain. Novel research strategies to expand on the understanding of these interactions as a...
Cell microencapsulation is a widely studied strategy for immunoprotection of transplanted insulin-producing cells used for diabetes treatment. The microcapsule forms a semipermeable membrane around the transplanted cells, serving as a barrier protecting cells from the host immune system while allowing diffusion of nutrients, glucose, and insulin.
The most widely studied microencapsulation...
Introduction
3D-bioprinting for cartilage tissue engineering can provide controlled cell localization and complex tissue shapes fabrication to meet clinical needs. Extrusion-based 3D-bioprinting has demonstrated resolution limitations owing to surface tension effects. Therefore, confined printing techniques such as Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH) have been...
Introduction: The translation of signals between the human body and biomedical implants is a critical challenge in advancing tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and diagnostics. Minimizing the inherent differences between neural biological components and synthetic interfaces, particularly in stiffness, biocompatibility, and cellular cues, is crucial for effective neural interfaces1. In...
Engineering functional articular cartilage (AC) remains a challenging goal in tissue engineering. Since the function of AC is derived from its depth-dependent organization, the field has typically focused on developing multilayered scaffolds that mimic specific zonal aspects of the native tissue. Scaffolds have succeeded in recapitulating some aspects of native AC, however, they have generally...
The fabrication of large, perfusable tissue constructs remains a major challenge in regenerative medicine due to the complexity of translating vascular networks across multiple scales. Here, we present an agentic generative AI (GenAI) platform capable of autonomously generating STL files for bioprinting macro-to-millimeter-scale architectures that are subsequently colonized by self-organizing...
Engineered Living Materials (ELM) harness the extraordinary sensory capabilities and versatile production capacities of living organisms to give materials adaptive functions. The combination of ELM with (3D) bioprinting processes is particularly exciting in this context. Through the targeted application of materials or the construction of complex branched or highly porous multi-material...
Introduction
Organoids are miniaturized three-dimensional layered constructs offering unprecedent resemblance with the structural, biological and functional characteristics of organs. These models provide a new framework to study the cellular processes, the physiology and the treatment of pathologies at the organ-level. Beyond in vitro modelling, organoids can offer a new alternative for in...
The development of three-dimensional (3D) cell-only tubular tissue constructs at small lumen sizes is a significant challenge in tissue engineering. This study presents an innovative strategy for fabricating multi-layered living conduits with defined geometries by 3D bioprinting multiple cell-only bioinks along with an oxidized and methacrylated alginate (OMA) microgel ink into a supporting...
Introduction
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a debilitating disease with a poor prognosis, often linked to long-term exposure to harmful substances. Understanding the role of pollutants in PF onset requires sophisticated in vitro models capable of replicating lung physiology and pathology. In this contribution we present the realisation of an innovative approach based on new materials and 3D...
Introduction
The infections, exogenous chemicals, such as drugs1, environmental pollutants and industrial chemicals, may affect the biological processes of the central nervous system as well as its structural, cellular, and molecular function2 and eventually lead to neuroinflammation3 as well as neurotoxicity4. Neuroinflammation is the common cause of numerous neurological disorders,...
INTRODUCTION
A sustainable alternative to traditional meat is cultivated meat, which is the growth of animal muscle tissue in laboratories. This technology aims to create a cell-laden product that replicates the texture, composition, and structure of conventional meat.[1] However, the hydrogels commonly used in tissue engineering techniques, whether as cast scaffolds or bioinks, often lack...
3D bioprinting is a key methodology in biofabrication, enabling precise spatial placement of cellular, polymeric, organic, and inorganic components to construct three-dimensional biological structures. Extrusion-based bioprinting is widely used, as it supports the printing of hydrogels across a broad viscosity range, accommodates the inclusion of cells and cell spheroids for large-scale...
A Modular Endoscopic Projection System for Spatially Patterned Photocrosslinking in Cartilage Repair
Theofanis Stampoultzis1, Parth Chansoria1, Marco Raffo2, Amedeo Franco Bonatti2, Giovanni Vozzi2,3, Marcy Zenobi-Wong1*
1Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication Lab, ETH Zurich
2Research Center "E. Piaggio", University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
3Department of Information Engineering, University of...
Introduction: The development of biofabrication requires reliable and standardized methods for quantifying a wide range of printing techniques and tissue models to ensure a successful translation into medical applications. With the rise of convergence and the integration of multiple materials, printing processes are becoming increasingly complex, posing challenges for structural analysis....
Introduction:
On-chip vascular microfluidic models provide powerful platforms for studying vasculature and its diseases in vitro. These models enable focused investigation of specific vascular layers, such as the endothelium, and the influence of hemodynamics on it. While traditional plastics or glass-based fabrication allows for defined microchannel architecture, its inherent stiffness and...
Tendon tissue engineering remains a critical challenge due to the need for biomaterials that simultaneously support mechanical load bearing and guide lineage specific cellular differentiation. To address this, we designed a hybrid scaffold system that spatially integrates mechanical reinforcement and tenogenic bioactivity, aiming to mimic native tendon properties more closely than conventional...
Biofabrication uses biomaterials and other biological compounds (cells, aggregates, organoids, etc) as building blocks to create functional in vitro models. This presentation is intended to report some saliant advances in this field, particularly on fabrication of cell-free-3D tissue scaffolds, printing cells, aggregates and organoids, along with the development of bioinks. Examples include...
Smart Materials, broadly defined here as any biomaterial that alters its shape and material properties over a time period ranging from minutes to years in response to externally applied (light, heat, etc) or host (fluid, cells, etc.) stimuli hold tremendous promise for fabricating resorbable, implanted devices for pediatric reconstruction applications. Regulatory approval requires...
The modular design of tissues is of indispensable importance for proper organ function. Yet, most tissue engineering strategies are based on creating homogeneous tissues, which has limited are capacity to create viable and functional tissues. I will discuss several novel micromaterials and biofabrication strategies we developed to create engineered living matter with modular designs that allow...
In the last decades crewed space research was limited to the International Space Station (ISS) from where a fast return to Earth in case of severe health issues of the astronauts always is possible. This will not be the case anymore in the upcoming space missions to Moon and finally maybe to Mars. As a consequence, health care support mechanisms must be developed that are completely...
Introduction
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is the most common hematological malignancy in the Western World [1], caused by the expansion and accumulation of B lymphocytes in peripheral blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen. To date, the comprehension of the interactions between CLL cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) is challenging to implement novel therapiesIn this study,...
Recreating the spatial and functional heterogeneity of native tissues remains a central challenge in tissue engineering. Native tissues exhibit complex gradients in mechanical properties, extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, and biochemical cues, which are difficult to replicate using conventional biofabrication methods. Extrusion-based embedded 3D bioprinting techniques, such as Freeform...
Burn injuries and related wound infections are the leading cause for >150.000 deaths worldwide each year. Skin defects caused by burns or infection may necessitate grafting to augment wound healing. As early identification of relevant contaminants is essential to adequately treat wound/graft infection as a potential life-threatening complication, real-time monitoring of bacterial overgrowth...
Introduction
The research concept is based on the [2+2] cycloaddition reaction of double bonds embedded in the modified polymer structure, enabling efficient and initiator-free hydrogel crosslinking upon light exposure. It is widely recognized that degradation by-products of photoinitiators exhibit cytotoxicity, which is a major limitation in the field of biomaterials engineering. To overcome...
Introduction: Experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) involve extremely high costs, often amounting to several million euros. These expenses primarily arise from transportation costs and the valuable time required from astronauts. Additionally, long-term missions to the Moon or Mars face significant challenges due to limited resource availability.1 Due to the high costs of...
In the quest to capture the complex environment of living organs within lab-made tissues, light emerged as a uniquely powerful stimulus for enabling dynamic and spatio-temporal control over cell and biomaterial properties, opening new avenues in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Light-responsive moieties permit to non-invasively trigger mechanical actuation and shape-changes in...
Open source and low cost bioprinters improve access to biofabrication and allow for a common hardware language for easier sharing of materials, code, and approaches. We recently developed the Printess, a 6-axis low-cost 3D bioprinter that could perform multimaterial, gradient mixing, multimaterial multinozzle, and embedded multinozzle 3D bioprinting. Here, we expand upon the design of our...
Introduction: Ulcers are a breach in the membrane of the stomach or intestine caused by inflamed necrotic tissue. When they develop in the ileum and jejunum, ulcers represent a burden clinical challenge, since they are not accessible through colon- or gastroscopy[1]. To solve this clinical need, in the context of the PRIN2022 project Prometheus, we studied the fabrication of a multi-layered...
Abstract:
Background:
The development of physiologically relevant tumor models is critical for understanding the tumor microenvironment (TME) and its influence on therapeutic response. In breast cancer, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are key stromal players that remodel the extracellular matrix (ECM), promote tumor progression, and confer drug resistance. However, conventional static...
Introduction
Microgravity provides a unique environment for advancing tissue engineering and biofabrication by eliminating gravitational constraints such as sedimentation, buoyancy, and hydrostatic pressure gradients. These factors enable 3D bioprinting of tissue and organ constructs of more complex geometries in three dimensions, offering structural and functional fidelity that is difficult...
Introduction
3D printing of hydrogels usually relies on a combination of fine-tuned material chemistry and polymer chain architecture to produce inks with adequate viscoelastic properties such as yield-stress flow, shear-thinning and self-healing behavior. [1] Complex coacervates are versatile materials obtained through an associative liquid-liquid phase separation phenomenon driven by...
Introduction: As new biofabrication technologies emerge, the possibilities for research into new applications expand rapidly. However, for young researchers with limited experience in the relevant areas (i.e., regenerative medicine, robotics, 3D printing or G-code postprocessing) and constrained financial resources, the application of new technologies may be challenging. From the very...
Type I collagen, is the central component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and its use in the context of regenerative medicine is expected to mark an important turning point towards the use of biomimetic materials in regenerative medicine. Collagen provides mechanical support and biological cues for cellular adhesion and proliferation making it an ideal choice for fabricating biomimetic...
Introduction
For 3D bioprinted structures to function effectively as tissues, it is essential to promote the proliferation of encapsulated cells. At the same time, it is important to be able to print with high structural fidelity to the blueprints designed to perform biological functions. Different techniques are currently used to meet each of these requirements. Cell proliferation is...
Human bone exhibits exceptional mechanical properties due to its hierarchical architecture, which span from the nano/microscopic to the macroscopic scale. The increasing incidence of orthopaedic disorders, as fractures, osteoporosis-related bone loss, and joint degeneration is a growing concern, especially among the aging population. This trend has increased the demand for effective bone graft...
Introduction. The liver is a key organ that plays a crucial role in metabolism and is responsible for various functions in the body, including homeostasis, synthesis of essential components, nutrient storage, and detoxification [1]. With the growing need for reliable and effective in vitro liver models for toxicological studies, recent advances have been made in tissue engineering,...
Implantable peripheral neural interfaces (PNIs) have demonstrated considerable versatility by facilitating direct access to targeted nerves with high signal specificity, thereby enabling both the acquisition of physiological information through electrical recording and the modulation of organ function via controlled electrical stimulation. However, the long-term performance of most implantable...
Introduction
Embedded bioprinting enables the deposition of bioinks within a supportive matrix, traditionally composed of viscoplastic gels. While these materials offer mechanical stability, they often compromise nutrient and oxygen transport to embedded cells [1]. To address these limitations, our group introduced in-foam bioprinting, a novel approach that utilizes a nutrient-rich,...
Introduction
Volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM) is emerging as a powerful biofabrication approach, allowing the rapid generation of complex, cell-laden hydrogel scaffolds. Unlike traditional layer-by-layer 3D printing, VAM enables high-speed fabrication, offering significant advantages for tissue engineering (TE).[1] Hydrogels derived from gelatin-based polymers, particularly those...
Spermatogenesis is a highly coordinated process occurring within the seminiferous tubules, where germ cells develop in close association with somatic Sertoli cells (SCs). These cells provide essential structural, metabolic, and regulatory support to developing germ cells, and their functionality is tightly regulated by the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). However, replicating the...
Invasion of cancer cells into surrounding tissue represents the first step of metastasis and is strongly controlled by the tumor microenvironment. In breast cancer, adipose‐derived stromal cells (ASCs) from adjacent adipose tissue are increasingly recognized as important regulators of this process, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. While bioprinting offers unique advantages for...
Introduction: Biological tissues exhibit intricate spatial variations, stiffness gradients, and complex niche environments critical to their biological function and implicated in various pathologies. Organ-on-chip technologies offer advanced biomimetic culture conditions compared to traditional culture methods[1-2]. However, replicating native tissue complexity remains challenging, requiring...
Introduction
To advance 3D bioprinting, it is essential to develop bioinks with appropriate rheological (e.g., flow behavior, yield stress) and gelation (e.g., kinetics, storage modulus) properties to enhance printability. Previous studies have incorporated additional components into bioinks, such as rheology modifiers (e.g., nanofibers, nanoparticles) and secondary crosslinking...
Introduction
There are several emerging direct-writing 3D printing technologies whose development can benefit from established, low-cost open-source ecosystems. Such 3D printing technologies include Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH) and melt electrowriting (MEW). The latter technology is a high-resolution technique capable of depositing micron-scale fibers into...
Introduction: Additive manufacturing has transformed material science by enabling 3D printing of tunable structures for applications like micro-robotics, sensors, and tissue engineering [1]. However, conventional extrusion-based printing uses fixed nozzle shapes, which limit control over the extruded material compositions and printed geometries. Recent methods offer some composition and flow...
We have been proposing the use of human-derived proteins that, upon chemical modification, could be used to generate adequate microenvironments to interact adequately with cells. We have selected two sources of such materials: (i) platelet lysates, containing mostly globular proteins including relevant growth factors with highly regenerative potential; and (ii) proteins from amniotic membrane...
Introduction: Hydrogel electronics have emerged as promising alternatives to traditional rigid metallic electronics for bioelectronic and human-machine interfaces, owing to their intrinsic biocompatibility and physicochemical similarities to biological tissues1. Despite their promise, most conductive hydrogel systems rely on metallic fillers or nanomaterials to achieve sufficient conductivity,...
Introduction
Shape changes during heart development, known as looping, are crucial for its morphogenesis [1]. Conventional bioprinting techniques produce static structures that bypass the shape-morphing cascades, essential for tissue maturation during development. 4D materials that can undergo shape changes due to external stimuli such as magnetic fields, light, etc., can play a key...
Biofabrication technologies have been largely developed to address medical needs, with the ultimate goal of enabling regenerative therapies. However, in our effort to advance toward that goal, we often generate tools, insights, and applications that reveal their own value in complementary, non-medical domains.
In this keynote, I will share how our work in chaotic bioprinting—originally...
Small-diameter vascular conduits for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases are in high demand. Bioprinting a patient-specific blood vessel is an attractive alternative, however, the inferior mechanical properties of cell-laden hydrogels is a major drawback. Here, we present a combined electrospinning and bioprinting technique in which electrospun nanofibers and cell-laden hydrogels are used...
Introduction:
Despite major advances in tissue engineering one key challenge remains: to ensure cell survival inside large, engineered constructs. Diffusion alone cannot sustain cell viability to the construct core, making it critical to develop strategies that support cells until a functional vascular network forms, regardless of construct size. Recent approaches to address this issue...
Introduction:
Accurate preclinical drug evaluation relies on physiologically relevant models that replicate the native tissue microenvironment, including structural architecture and vasculature. Liver cancer, a major global health burden, often requires complex and individualized treatment strategies. However, current therapeutic approaches are typically generalized, failing to address...
Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a class of smart materials capable of undergoing programmed shape changes in response to external stimuli. Polyglycerol dodecanoate acrylate (PGDA), a thermally responsive SMP, has demonstrated promise in biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility.[1] However, its high viscosity and the requirement for harsh thermal curing hinder its use in vat-based...
Biofabrication is an emerging field of engineering aimed at creating tissues and tissue-like structures. A key technology in biofabrication is 3D bioprinting, which utilizes methods of precise layer-by-layer deposition of cell-containing bioingredients to form active 3D structures. While 3D bioprinting allows for the creation of some biologically relevant shapes and structures, its reliance on...
Bioprinting technologies, including those developed by our group, have already entered the stage of clinical application. However, most of these achievements remain in the Proof of Concept and/or phaseI/II, and many challenges must be overcome before bioprinting can become a widely adopted medical practice. One critical aspect is the series of steps that follow the industrial printing...
Introduction
With the escalating challenges of environmental pollution and climate change, research on chronic non-communicable diseases arising from exposure to various pollutants such as inorganic particles and micro-/nanoplastics has gained significant momentum. Among these, respiratory exposure to particulate matter, a major component of air pollution, has been strongly implicated in the...
Introduction: Customized bioreactors can replicate diverse physiological conditions, such as shear stress, pulsatile pressure, and strain, while enhancing diffusion and nutrient exchange. These conditions stimulate cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, gene expression, and substrate remodeling. However, in two-dimensional cultures, these stimuli promote adipose-derived...
Development and Characterization of Alginate-Based Bioinks incorporating Nicotiana tabacum Cells for Bioprinting
Kira Schnellbächer1, Adrian Rehn1, Robin Maatz1, Andreas Blaeser1
1 Technical University Darmstadt, IDD, Germany (schnellbaecher@idd.tu-darmstadt.de, blaeser@idd.tu-darmstadt.de)
Plant cells are valuable for producing various molecules due to their secondary metabolism [1]....
Photoresponsive gelatin derivatives are among the most used biomaterials to produce bioink and bioresins for biofabrication. The unique thermoreversible gelation properties of gelatin, combined with covalent crosslinking strategies via the incorporation of i.e. acrylates groups offers a broad range of rheological performances suitable for both extrusion and light-based printing applications....
Over the past 15 years, our group has focused on the development of advanced lung-on-chip (LOC) models that closely mimic the human lung parenchyma with high physiological relevance. Our early systems[1],[2], which replicated the three-dimensional deflection associated with physiological breathing motions, have since been commercialized by our spin-off company, AlveoliX. These foundational...
Physiologically relevant in vitro models of connective tissues are critical for advancing tissue engineering and disease modeling. However, replicating the hierarchical organization and extracellular matrix (ECM) richness of native stromal environments remains a significant challenge. Traditional scaffold-based approaches often lack the resolution and biological complexity to support proper...
3D bioprinting has emerged as a promising technology in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Collagen, given its natural abundance in the extracellular matrix and excellent biocompatibility, serves as an ideal biomaterial for the preparation of printable bioinks. This study explores the optimization of collagen bioink properties as well as cultivation strategies and microvascular...
Hydrogels with tailored porosity and microstructure are essential for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. However, controlling their internal architecture remains a challenge. A promising approach leverages polymer phase separation in water to create hydrogels with large interconnected pores, enhancing cell growth or migration, nutrient transport, and cellular...
INTRODUCTION
Skin possesses a complex structure with diverse components. The epidermis consists of tightly packed epithelial cells, while dermis contain fibroblasts, blood vessels, sensory neurons, immune cells, and hair follicles. Both in vitro and in vivo models serve as useful tools for studying skin biology and uncovering the cellular and molecular processes involved in degenerative skin...
Introduction
The main defense mechanism against inhaled airborne particles is the epithelial barrier, consisting of lung epithelial cells connected by adherent junctions. While some airborne particles are eliminated by the innate defense system, those that are not detected, continue to progress in the body. In the long-term and high-concentration exposures the particles may escape the radar...
Bovine meat is one of the preferred sources of protein around the world due to its remarkable nature. Meat exhibits a high density of high-quality protein, is well-balanced in essential amino acids, and has a very distinctive set of textural and flavor attributes. However, traditional methods of meat production have been heavily criticized for their poor sustainability, particularly in terms...
INTRODUCTION
Advanced in-vitro systems are fundamental to investigate cell dynamics and crosstalk occurring within the same or different districts of the human body.
In the case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), given the importance of the microenvironment, there is a strong need for new tools to unveil key pathogenetic mechanisms and perform more reliable drug testing ex-vivo. Little...
Introduction
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare but deadly disease that arises from epithelial cells in the liver (intrahepatic) or the biliary tract (extrahepatic). The absence of specific symptoms leads to late diagnosis, which is associated with a poor prognosis due to disease progression, metastasis, and the emergence of drug resistance. The heterogeneity of CCA makes the drug discovery...
The undeniable impact of climate change and air pollution on respiratory health has led to
increasing cases of asthma, allergic rhinitis and other chronic non-communicable immunemediated
upper and lower airway diseases. Natural bioaerosols, such as pollen and fungi, are
essential atmospheric components undergoing significant structural and functional changes due
to industrial pollution and...
Single cell printing techniques are extremely valuable for the precise and controlled construction of tissue precursors. However, existing methods for printing single cells are subject to rheological restrictions. In addition, the high resolution required for printing individual cells conflicts with the desire for time-efficient construction of 3D structures.
This work addresses the question...
Perfusion platforms are increasingly used to replicate in vivo vascular environments and to investigate how the interplay between vascular geometry, surface properties, and flow dynamics influences the physiology of endothelial cells lining the lumen of vasculature. Here, we present an approach that combines 3D printing, soft lithography, and advanced surface modification to create perfused...
Introduction
Polymeric membranes, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are widely used in Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) systems due to their mechanical strength, porosity, and compatibility with microscopic analysis.[1] However, effective integration of these membranes into PDMS-based devices remains a technical challenge, as native PET does not readily bond with PDMS.[2] Surface modification is...
Introduction
Bioprinting offers the opportunity to reproduce tissue structures in-vitro to support the reconstruction of functional tissue constructs. Among the different bioprinting techniques, two photon polymerization (2PP) allows the generations of the smallest features up to the submicron range. However, the low volume throughput is the main drawback to obtaining constructs of a relevant...
INTRODUCTION: The integration of biomaterials with living cells presents a critical bottleneck in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Despite the rapid progress in biofabrication technologies, designing functional and biologically relevant tissue constructs that mimic native organ complexity remains challenging. Here, we assembled semi-synthetic liver-like tissues using...
Decellularized brain tissue combined with GelMa as a novel hydrogel emulating extracellular matrix in cerebral organoid-on-chips
Aysel Saskara1, Ozlem Yesil-Celiktas1,2,3
1 Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ege University, 35100, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey
2 Translational Pulmonary Research Center (EgeSAM), Ege University, 35100, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey
3 ODTÜ MEMS,...
Biofabrication has revolutionized the way we design in vitro models of human physiology. Advances in 3D bioprinting, scaffold engineering, and stem cell biology have enabled the creation of increasingly sophisticated tissues. Biofabrication permits spatiotemporal control over cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix communication and thus the recreation of tissue-like structures [1,2]. Yet,...
Efficient vascularization is critical for ensuring adequate nutrient and oxygen transport as well as metabolic waste removal in engineered tissues. Conventional strategies often depend on angiogenesis from existing vasculature, inherently limiting construct size and functional complexity. Nonetheless, the generation of structurally stable and perfusable constructs remains a significant hurdle...
Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA) is widely used in biofabrication, yet its lack of reproducibility remains a major barrier for translation. This issue originates from a variety of reasons including inconsistent selection of raw materials, variations in modification strategies, varying degrees of substitution, and differences in solvent and photoinitiator concentrations employed in various studies....
Two-photon lithography (TPL) is a high-resolution technique capable of fabricating complex three-dimensional microstructures with sub-micrometer precision. Unlike conventional lithography methods, TPL allows freeform fabrication under ambient conditions, making it especially useful in biological applications where microenvironmental control is essential[1]. Its ability to produce structures...
Extrusion-based bioprinting enables fabrication of living constructs with tissue-like features but poses significant challenges for maintaining post-printing cell viability due to complex mechanical stresses. In this study, we leverage the integrated in-line rheological modules of the RevoBITs Byte 1 bioprinter to directly quantify shear and elongational stresses during printing and correlate...
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment is characterized by an elevated hydrogen ion concentration, which is the result of increased cellular metabolic demand and altered perfusion, e.g., oxygen availability or acidic metabolic waste products. The acidity of the tumour microenvironment, which is spatially and temporally heterogeneous, affects cancer initiation and progression, but also the...
Vasculature plays a crucial role in tissue engineering since it is essential for maintaining tissue viability by efficient nutrient and oxygen exchange as well as waste removal. The creation of biomimetic vascular networks is therefore critical for the development of functional tissue constructs. Sacrificial strategy has emerged as an effective method for engineering vascular structures by...
Here we developed a novel scaffold that significantly improves cardiac tissue regeneration by incorporating curved PCL fibers. These fibers mimic the natural architecture of the extracellular matrix (ECM), providing optimal mechanical and biochemical cues for cell growth. Using a brush-assisted bioprinting technique, we precisely aligned these fibers within a collagen-based scaffold to create...
3D biological models able to reproduce the physiology and the behavior of human tissues/organs are the focus of the newest groundbreaking research, enabling the scientific advancement of personalized medicine while simultaneously adhering to the principle of the 3Rs. Among the key features necessary to achieve a physiological and functional 3D model, there is the ability to replicate an immune...
Ourobionics is pioneering a transformative paradigm in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering through the development of a predictive biofabrication platform that integrates 3D Bio-Electrospraying (3D-BES), 3D Cell-Electrospinning (3D-CE) to create complex human tissue with biomarker biosensors connected to generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Unlike conventional extrusion-based...
