For decades the need for organs for transplantation by far exceeds their availability, costing the lives of patients in desperate need for a transplant. This need has acted as driving force for the growth of the tissue engineering field. For the most part, tissue engineering utilizes scaffolds made of decellularized tissues or synthetic and natural hydrogels that can be polymerized. More recently, bioprinting has emerged as a robust alternative for precise placing of cells onto scaffolds or into polymers. Laser bioprinting, in particular, allows high speed and precise printing of cells into any bioink and with high viability. In this study, we use laser bioprinting to engineer urinary bladder tissue for regenerative medicine applications. Using a natural hydrogel and primary smooth muscle cells and urothelial cells, we have managed to print ex vivo bladder explants which recapitulate the structure of native urinary bladder.
Bioprinting allows for the formation of three-dimensional living tissues through the precise layer-by-layer printing of biomaterials such as living cells and cell-laden hydrogels. In this study, Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) printing was used to rapidly and accurately deposit patterns of cancer cells in a non-contact manner using two different wavelengths, 532 and 355nm. Overall, we find that LIFT is able to safely print patterns of breast cancer cells with high viability and little to no heat or shear damage to the cells, as indicated by unperturbed growth and negligible gross DNA damage.
Aiming to harness the unique capabilities of laser printing, in this study, we present our latest results on the transfer and photo-crosslinking of cell-laden bioinks comprising different hydrogels, using a dual laser beam configuration. Results from different laser sources with ns and sub-ns pulse duration and different repetition rates are also presented to highlight the effect of the laser parameters on the printing and photo-crosslinking of the cell-laden patterns. The printing outcome is correlated with the cell growth of different cell-laden bioinks, while immunochemical staining is also employed to study potential cellular damage.
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