Print Cells at Desired Locations

Development of 3D Bio Dot Printing

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] A 3D bio-printing technique that can directly print cell spheroids?cell clusters cultured in a spherical shape?at desired locations has been developed. It is expected to contribute to cancer invasion models, liver disease treatment patches, and the development of stem cell spheroid-based transplantable xenografts.

The research team led by Professor Hyunwook Kang of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology announced on the 18th that they have developed a '3D bio dot printing' technology that precisely prints stem cell or cancer cell spheroids.

Cell spheroids have the advantage of being closer to human tissue structures than cells cultured in two dimensions, making them a focus as a 'test bed' for understanding cancer metastasis processes or verifying drug efficacy instead of actual human organs.

3D bio dot printing is a technology that combines culturing cells into spherical shapes and 3D bio-printing, which prints bio-ink containing cells in three dimensions. This technology has high precision, allowing the spacing between cell spheroids to be as close as a few micrometers (㎛). Additionally, it has the advantage of being able to stack in three dimensions regardless of cell type and directly use computer-aided precise bio-processing technologies (CAD/CAM).

The research team developed a method that prints bio-ink containing the cells to be cultured one by one in spherical shapes within a mixed hydrogel. The mixed hydrogel surrounding the ink acts as a mold that clusters the cells into spheres. This is because the crosslinker in the ink solidifies the contact surface into a spherical shape. The ink also contains components that dissolve and disappear as the cells grow, allowing the cells to cluster and grow within the spherical mold.

Unlike previous methods, the team stated that no separate spheroid culturing is required, and spheroids can be created directly at desired locations. In fact, using this technology, the team succeeded in forming spheroids of cancer cells, pancreatic islets (Islets of Langerhans) beta cells that secrete insulin, and liver cells. Notably, the liver cells cultured by this method showed superior performance and longevity compared to those cultured by conventional methods.

Professor Hyunwook Kang said, "The bio dot printing process can be applied to various cell types such as liver cells, pancreatic islet beta cells, and cancer cells," adding, "It will be helpful for ongoing projects including cancer invasion models, liver disease treatment patches, and the development of stem cell spheroid-based transplantable xenografts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.