Bioprinting: A Strategy to Build Informative Models of Exposure and Disease

Abstract

Novel additive manufacturing techniques are revolutionizing fields of industry providing more dimensions to control and the versatility of fabricating multi-material products. Medical applications hold great promise to manufacture constructs of mixed biologically compatible materials together with functional cells and tissues. We reviewed technologies and promising developments nurturing innovation of physiologically relevant models to study safety of chemicals that are hard to reproduce in current models, or diseases for which there are no models available. Extrusion-, inkjet-and laser-assisted bioprinting are the most used techniques. Hydrogels as constituents of bioinks and biomaterial inks are the most versatile materials to recreate physiological and pathophysiological microenvironments. The highlighted bioprinted models were chosen because they guarantee post-printing cellular viability while maintaining desirable mechanical properties of their constitutive bioinks or biomaterial inks to ensure their printability. Bioprinting is being readily adopted to overcome ethical concerns of in vivo models and improve the automation, reproducibility, geometry stability of traditional in vitro models. The challenges for advancing the technological level readiness of bioprinting require overcoming heterogeneity, microstructural complexity, dynamism and integration with other models, to generate multi-organ platforms that can inform about biological responses to chemical exposure, disease development and efficacy of novel therapies.

The influence of viscosity of hydrogels on the spreading and migration of cells in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models

“…In addition to the most often described technologies listed above, some alternative technologies have also been described for 3D bioprinting ( Jung et al, 2022 ; Caceres-Alban et al, 2023 ). Magnetic bioprinting uses magnetic forces together with magnetic nanoparticles or magnetic microbead-labeled cells ( Mironov et al, 2009 ).…”

Bacterial Patterning: A Promising Biofabrication Technique

“…Depending on the species to be patterned and the biological functions to be accomplished, biopatterning operates across various length scales: from the molecular level (e.g., proteins and DNAs) and the cell level (e.g., mammalian and bacterial cells) to the tissue level and the organoid level (e.g., multicellular assemblies and tissue and organ printing) (Figure ). − At the microscopic scale, precise micro- and nanoscopic patterns are created through the deposition and/or adhesion of single molecules, exemplified by protein arrays for investigating signaling pathways and ligand–receptor interactions. − On the macroscopic scale, three-dimensional (3D) printing is employed to generate multicellular assemblies with precise geometries for mimicking the biological functions of native tissues and organs. − Despite extensive discussions on biomolecular patterning, mammalian cell patterning, , and 3D printing, , there is a lack of prior publications systematically summarizing the research progress of bacterial patterning for diverse applications. In contrast to fragile mammalian cells, which are susceptible to environmental stimulation, , bacterial cells possess an additional cell wall structure, which serves as a protective shell to defend against external influential factors (e.g., shear force and light irradiation). , Moreover, bacterial cells can form self-embedded biofilms by secreting extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs; e.g., polysaccharides, proteins, and extracellular DNAs) and adhering to surfaces, which provide protection to bacteria in harsh environments. , Given their rapid proliferation, strong colonization capability, environmental adaptability, and well-established gene manipulation strategies, bacterial cells are considered ideal candidates for biopatterning. − …”