A Custom Ultra-Low-Cost 3D Bioprinter Supports Cell Growth and Differentiation

Abstract

Advances in 3D bioprinting have allowed the use of stem cells along with biomaterials and growth factors toward novel tissue engineering approaches. However, the cost of these systems along with their consumables is currently extremely high, limiting their applicability. To address this, we converted a 3D printer into an open source 3D bioprinter and produced a customized bioink based on accessible alginate/gelatin precursors, leading to a cost-effective solution. The bioprinter's resolution, including line width, spreading ratio and extrusion uniformity measurements, along with the rheological properties of the bioinks were analyzed, revealing high bioprinting accuracy within the printability window. Following the bioprinting process, cell survival and proliferation were validated on HeLa Kyoto and HEK293T cell lines. In addition, we isolated and 3D bioprinted postnatal neural stem cell progenitors derived from the mouse subventricular zone as well as mesenchymal stem cells derived from mouse bone marrow. Our results suggest that our low-cost 3D bioprinter can support cell proliferation and differentiation of two different types of primary stem cell populations, indicating that it can be used as a reliable tool for developing efficient research models for stem cell research and tissue engineering.

Advanced Multi-Dimensional Cellular Models as Emerging Reality to Reproduce In Vitro the Human Body Complexity

“…Interestingly, chondrogenic differentiation of hKACs and GAGs content was observed in the whole assembled platform together with higher expression of collagens I and II compared to one-layer scaffold, suggesting the strong communication and coordination of cells throughout the different architectures of layers [ 184 ]. Despite the abovementioned advantages, it has to be mentioned that current commercially available 3D bioprinters still have a high cost ($10,000–150,000), low customization capacity and require costly consumables, not forgetting the necessity of the high workforce for maintenance, limiting their possible application [ 187 ].…”

3D Reconstitution of the Neural Stem Cell Niche: Connecting the Dots

“…Han et al, used chitosan and gelatin-based hydrogels to establish an NSC/ependymal cell co-culture system and showcased that gelatin promoted angiogenesis in this application and that their hydrogels can be injectable (Han et al, 2019). In a similar manner, a previous study generated from our laboratory utilized a mixture of alginate and gelatin-based bioink, in order to biofabricate an early 3D model of the SVZ niche (Ioannidis et al, 2020) using a custom-made 3D bioprinter. GelMA, a hydrogel consisting of gelatin methacryloyl with UV crosslinking capability, is also utilized in many research articles for the development of NSC niches with biofabrication approaches.…”

Improving Cell Viability and Velocity in μ-Extrusion Bioprinting with a Novel Pre-Incubator Bioprinter and a Standard FDM 3D Printing Nozzle

“…Current research on μ-extrusion bioprinting mechanics is focused on two pathways, minimizing the costs and obtaining the best shape fidelity by using piston driven extrusion. In this sense, authors have been developing and adapting new piston-driven extrusion-head for conventional 3D printers [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ] or developing new bioprinters [ 25 , 26 ]. New adapted extrusion-heads are usually based on a design proposed by Wijnen et al [ 27 ].…”