Layer-by-layer laser direct-write 3D-bioprinting for applications in regenerative medicine

Abstract

Major advances in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering are currently limited by the inability to accurately recreate the in vivo microenvironment, grow cells or tissues in 3D, properly maintain and control stem cell fate, and fabricate scaffolds that provide adequate mechanical properties for 3D cellular growth, attachment, and mechanotransduction. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a promising fabrication technique to address each of these limitations. Specifically, gelatin-based laser direct-write (LDW) 3D bioprinting has the potential to fabricate multiple, thick, heterogeneous cellular constructs in a layer-by-layer fashion. Herein, further characterization of the influence of print height and density for the LDW bioprinting process is firstly evaluated. Then, the demonstration of the capacity for LDW to biofabricate multiple, thick, multilayer cellular constructs and then 3D-recronstructions using Mesoscopic Fluorescence Molecular Tomography (MFMT), is investigated. Finally, future directions for the capability of this bioprinting platform to possibly recreate multilayer, histology-grade constructs from micrographs of histologic specimens, is discussed. Taken together, this LDW-MFMT platform may provide a powerful tool for applications in tissue engineering, regenerative, diagnostic, and therapeutic medicine