3D Biofabrication Strategies for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

Over the past several decades, there has been an ever-increasing demand for organ transplants. However, there is a severe shortage of donor organs, and as a result of the increasing demand, the gap between supply and demand continues to widen. A potential solution to this problem is to grow or fabricate organs using biomaterial scaffolds and a person’s own cells. Although the realization of this solution has been limited, the development of new biofabrication approaches has made it more realistic. This review provides an overview of natural and synthetic biomaterials that have been used for organ/tissue development. It then discusses past and current biofabrication techniques, with a brief explanation of the state of the art. Finally, the review highlights the need for combining vascularization strategies with current biofabrication techniques. Given the multitude of applications of biofabrication technologies, from organ/tissue development to drug discovery/screening to development of complex in vitro models of human diseases, these manufacturing technologies can have a significant impact on the future of medicine and health care.

Design Advances in Particulate Systems for Biomedical Applications

“…[ 62,63 ] In specifi c cases, when the entrapped cells are able to secrete molecules of interest (e.g., growth factors), the matrix should be permeable to those bioactive agents. Ideally, the bulk of the particles should provide anchoring points for cell attachment and proliferation, which implies the selection of adequate materials [ 64 ] capable to mimic the cell adhesive capability of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The degradation kinetics of the bulk must also be considered and tuned to the specifi c application: for instance, it must be slow when the aim is to protect the cells or more rapid when the aim is to supply the damaged site with cells.…”

Glucose‐Sensitive Hydrogel Optical Fibers Functionalized with Phenylboronic Acid

“…[18] For example, cell-seeded hydrogel waveguides have been developed for implantation. [19] Recently, core-clad waveguides have been fabricated from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives and silk.…”

Advances in bioprinted cell-laden hydrogels for skin tissue engineering

“…In this approach, one strategy of biofabrication, termed bioassembly, is applied to generate hierarchical constructs with a prescribed two-dimensional (2D) or 3D organization. Larger and complex tissue constructs are obtained through the automated assembly of pre-formed cell-containing fabrication units (e.g., cell aggregates, cell fibres, cell sheets or microtissues) produced by different techniques, such as self-assembled aggregation, microfabrication or microfluidics [10,78,129]. Bottom-up approach addresses some of the limitations of the top-down approach by the creation of tissue constructs with multiple cell types placed in specific 3D locations, with a high cell density and possibility of printing vascular networks [16,121,166].…”

“…Bottom-up approach addresses some of the limitations of the top-down approach by the creation of tissue constructs with multiple cell types placed in specific 3D locations, with a high cell density and possibility of printing vascular networks [16,121,166]. Bioprinting, one main strategy of biofabrication, is attracting significant interest from researchers working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their unique ability to print single cells, bioactive molecules, biomaterials or cell-aggregates into structurally organized constructs in a layer-by-layer fashion with high resolution and accuracy [10,78,111,136]. Bioprinting provides a powerful tool to arrange cells, biomaterials and soluble factors within a 3D environment on a length scale comparable to the complex heterogeneity found in natural tissue (10-100 lm), enabling new perspectives as well as unmatched possibilities in the design of biomimetic substitutes for tissue regeneration [10,80,125].…”

“…Bioprinting, one main strategy of biofabrication, is attracting significant interest from researchers working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their unique ability to print single cells, bioactive molecules, biomaterials or cell-aggregates into structurally organized constructs in a layer-by-layer fashion with high resolution and accuracy [10,78,111,136]. Bioprinting provides a powerful tool to arrange cells, biomaterials and soluble factors within a 3D environment on a length scale comparable to the complex heterogeneity found in natural tissue (10-100 lm), enabling new perspectives as well as unmatched possibilities in the design of biomimetic substitutes for tissue regeneration [10,80,125]. In the context of skin tissue engineering, bioprinting has been explored for the fabrication of 3D constructs containing skin cells positioned in distinct layers to resemble the anatomy of native skin [117,184].…”