3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Critical oral-maxillofacial bone defects, damaged by trauma and tumors, not only affect the physiological functions and mental health of patients but are also highly challenging to reconstruct. Personalized biomaterials customized by 3D printing technology have the potential to match oral-maxillofacial bone repair and regeneration requirements. Laponite (LAP) nanosilicates have been added to biomaterials to achieve biofunctional modification owing to their excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity. Herein, porous nanosilicate-functionalized polycaprolactone (PCL/LAP) was fabricated by 3D printing technology, and its bioactivities in bone regeneration were investigated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro experiments demonstrated that PCL/LAP exhibited good cytocompatibility and enhanced the…

The residual of malignant tumor cells and lack of bone‐tissue integration are the two critical concerns of bone‐tumor recurrence and surgical failure. In this work, the rational integration of 2D Ti3C2 MXene is reported with 3D‐printing bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds for achieving concurrent bone‐tumor killing by photonic hyperthermia and bone‐tissue regeneration by bioactive scaffolds. The designed composite scaffolds take the unique feature of high photothermal conversion of integrated 2D Ti3C2 MXene for inducing bone‐tumor ablation by near infrared‐triggered photothermal hyperthermia, which has achieved the complete tumor eradication on in vivo bone‐tumor xenografts. Importantly, the rational integration of 2D Ti3C2 MXene…

Vascularization is a crucial process during the growth and development of bone 1, yet it remains one of the main challenges in the reconstruction of large bone defects. The use of in vitro coculture of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) has been one of the most explored options. Both cell types secrete specific growth factors that are mutually beneficial, and studies suggested that cell-cell communication and paracrine secretion could be affected by a number of factors. However, little is known about the effect of cell patterning and the distance between cell populations on…

Natural polymer hydrogels are one of the best biomaterials for soft tissue repair because of their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immune rejection. However, they lack mechanical strength matching that of natural tissue and desired functionality (e.g., self-healing and 3D-printability). To solve these problems, we developed a host–guest supramolecule (HGSM) with three arms covalently crosslinked with a natural polymer to construct a novel hydrogel with non-covalent bonds integrated into a covalently crosslinked network. This unique structure enabled the hydrogel to exhibit improved mechanical properties and show both self-healing and 3D printing capabilities. The three-armed HGSM was first prepared via efficient…

While articular cartilage defects affect millions of people worldwide from adolescents to adults, the repair of articular cartilage defects still remains challenging due to the limited endogenous regeneration of the tissue and poor integration with implants. In this study, we developed a 3D-printed scaffold functionalized with aggrecan that supports the cellular fraction of bone marrow released from microfracture, a widely used clinical procedure, and demonstrated tremendous improvement of regenerated cartilage tissue quality and joint function in a lapine model. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed doubled thickness of the regenerated cartilage tissue in the group treated with our aggrecan functionalized scaffold…

Regenerative medicine has emerged as an important discipline that aims to repair injury or replace damaged tissues or organs by introducing living cells or functioning tissues. Successful regenerative medicine strategies will likely depend upon a simultaneous optimization strategy for the design of biomaterials, cell-seeding methods, cell-biomaterial interactions and molecular signaling within the engineered tissues. It remains a challenge to image three-dimensional (3-D) structures and functions of the cell-seeded scaffold in mesoscopic scale (>2∼3 mm). In this study, we utilized angled fluorescence laminar optical tomography (aFLOT), which allows depth-resolved molecular characterization of engineered tissues in 3-D to investigate cell viability, migration and…

Direct-write printing of stem cells within biomaterials presents an opportunity to engineer tissue for in vitro modeling and regenerative medicine. Here, a first example of constructing neural tissue by printing human neural stem cells that are differentiated in situ to functional neurons and supporting neuroglia is reported. The supporting biomaterial incorporates a novel clinically relevant polysaccharide-based bioink comprising alginate, carboxymethyl-chitosan, and agarose. The printed bioink rapidly gels by stable cross-linking to form a porous 3D scaffold encapsulating stem cells for in situ expansion and differentiation. Differentiated neurons form synaptic contacts, establish networks, are spontaneously active, show a bicuculline-induced increased calcium…