Researchers at the University of Galway have devised a method of bioprinting tissues. That changes shape as a result of cell-generated pressures, much like real tissues do during organ development.
The groundbreaking work centered on duplicating cardiac tissues. This brings researchers closer to creating functional, bio-printed organs with extensive potential in disease modeling, drug screening, and regenerative medicine.
A team from the University of Galway’s School of Engineering and CÚRAM Research Ireland Centre for Medical Devices conducted the research. That was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Bioprinting technology embeds living cells in specific “bioink” materials. These are substances or materials that may support living cells and, due to their properties, can promote cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation throughout maturation. The approach holds great potential for developing lab-grown organs that closely resemble their human counterparts.
Traditional bioprinting technologies frequently attempt to directly duplicate the ultimate anatomical shape of an organ, such as the heart, ignoring the critical function of dynamic shape changes throughout natural embryonic development. For example, the heart begins as a basic tube that experiences a series of bends and twists before maturing into its four-chambered structure. These shape-shifting actions are critical for shaping cardiac cell development and maturation.
Ankita Pramanick, lead author of the study and CÚRAM Ph.D. A candidate at the University of Galway said
Our work introduces a novel platform, using embedded bioprinting to bioprint tissues that undergo programmable and predictable 4D shape-morphing driven by cell-generated forces. Using this new process, we found that shape-morphing improved the structural and functional maturity of bioprinted heart tissues.”
The study found that cell-generated forces could direct the form-morphing of bio-printed tissues. And that the amplitude of the shape changes could be controlled by adjusting factors. Such as initial print geometry and bio-ink stiffness. Morphing has been shown to improve cell alignment and tissue contractility. The researchers also created a computational model that predicted tissue shape-morphing behavior.
