From the International Space Station to Desktop Printers, 3D Bioprinting Is Revolutionizing Tissue Model Research
Allevi CEO Ricky Solorzano talks to Lonza about how his company is empowering scientists to print their own tissue models
Scientists have been printing cells for decades, but with the arrival of 3D bioprinters, getting printed tissue models to behave like living tissue has proved elusive. That is why angiogenesis and vascularization are two holy grails of 3D bioprinting. A recent article published by researchers at biotech company Allevi demonstrates breakthrough research in which a skin tissue model printed on one of their desktop models showed both processes simultaneously. The April 2020 publication in ACS Biomaterials, Science & Engineering illustrates just how fast bioprinting is moving, producing results that were unimaginable five years ago, facilitating the study of tissue models in basic science, disease modeling, and drug discovery. But Allevi is not stopping at Earth-bound breakthroughs. The US company has also secured funding for simultaneous bioprinting experiments on the International Space Station.
Curious to Know More?
Listen to the conversation between Lonza and Allevi CEO Ricky Solorzano about both the current state of bioprinting and its future applications in the first episode of the podcast “A View On.”KEY TERMS:
Desktop 3D bioprinting: 3D bioprinting, a process similar to other additive manufacturing techniques, uses bioinks and biomaterials to create biomedical parts for research like skin tissue and organoids such as corneas. These printers have traditionally been voluminous, complicated, and costly. Allevi’s desktop 3D bioprinters are not only smaller, they are easy to use and significantly less expensive than larger models.
Bio-extrusion: A standard 3D printer at home or in a maker lab makes an object by adding material layer by layer. In bio-extrusion, bioinks are extruded from the nozzles and printed onto a biomaterial matrix.
Bioink: A material composed of living cells and biopolymer gels that, once extruded by the printer, can be organised into tissues, organs, and organoids.
Matrigel™: The trade name for the substrate used for culturing cells, essential in the bioprinting process as it is often the surface onto which the bioink is printed.
Angiogenesis: From ancient Greek, literally the creation (genesis) of vessels (angio). In modern biology, the term refers to the formation of new blood vessels within a tissue. In bioprinting, the presence of angiogenesis means that the printed tissue is behaving and growing in a way that is akin to living tissue and is essential to the success of creating functional printed tissues and organs.
Vascularization: Also related to the creation of blood vessels but, in contrast to angiogenesis, successful vascularization of a printed tissue is when an existing, printed structure of blood vessels is adopted by the tissue to delivering blood throughout the structure.
Innervation: The process by which a tissue is supplied with nerves. In 3D bioprinting, supplying a printed tissue with nerves is the latest frontier of the technology as supplying tissue not only with blood but also nerves could possibly accelerate restoration of muscle function in vivo and create more complex tissue models for research on neurological diseases.
For the above-mentioned article on angiogenesis and vascularization as well as the latest on bioprinting research, you can read more on the Allevi Blog.