Publication
Title
High-throughput fabrication of vascularized spheroids for bioprinting
Author
Abstract
Overcoming the problem of vascularization remains the main challenge in the field of tissue engineering. As three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is the rising technique for the fabrication of large tissue constructs, small prevascularized building blocks were generated that can be incorporated throughout a printed construct, answering the need for a microvasculature within the small micron range (<10 μm). Uniform spheroids with an ideal geometry and diameter for bioprinting were formed, using a high-throughput non-adhesive agarose microwell system. Since monoculture spheroids of endothelial cells were unable to remain stable, coculture spheroids combining endothelial cells with fibroblasts and/or adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSC) as supporting cells, were created. When applying the favorable coculture ratio, viable spheroids were obtained and endothelial cells spontaneously formed a capillary-like network and lumina, as shown by immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. Especially the presence of ADSC led to a higher vascularization and extracellular matrix production of the microtissue. Moreover, spheroids were able to assemble at random in suspension and in a hydrogel, creating a macrotissue. During at random assembly, cells reorganized, creating a branched capillary-network throughout the entire fused construct by inoculating with capillaries of adjacent spheroids. Combining the advantage of this natural capacity of microtissues to self-assemble and the controlled organization by bioprinting technologies, these prevascularized spheroids can be useful as building blocks for the engineering of large vascularized 3D tissues.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Biofabrication. - London, 2009, currens
Publication
London : IOP , 2018
ISSN
1758-5082
DOI
10.1088/1758-5090/AAC7E6
Volume/pages
10 :3 (2018) , 14 p.
Article Reference
035009
ISI
000435140000001
Pubmed ID
29798932
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Research in the field of the advanced biomedical microscopic imaging: "Towards medical cytomics. Paving the way with nextgeneration microscopy".
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 27.06.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
To cite this reference