Recent progress in engineering functional biohybrid robots actuated by living cells

Gao, Lin; Akhtar, Maria; Yang, Fan; Ahmad, Shahzad; He, Jiankang; Lian, Qin; Cheng, Wei; Zhang, Jinhua; Li, Dichen

doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2020.12.002

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 75 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, most of the microgels at the cracking area appeared to remain intact (Figure 4i) or completely detached from the second polymer network (Figure 4j), suggesting the potential mechanism of energy dissipation by displacement of microgels. Collectively, these data demonstrated the extraordinary structure robustness and cyclic performance of our MB bioink, which may advance the in vitro engineering of certain natural tissues such as cartilages [ 37 ] and ligaments, [ 38 ] and is desirable for other biomedical applications such as soft robotics [ 39 ] and artificial muscles. [ 40 ]…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Printing of Cell‐Laden Microgel‐Based Biphasic Bioink with Heterogeneous Microenvironment for Biomedical Applications

Fang

Guo

et al. 2021

Adv Funct Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A major challenge in 3D extrusion bioprinting is the limited number of bioink that fulfills the opposing requirements for printability with requisite rheological properties and for functionality with desirable microenvironment. Here, this limitation is addressed by developing a generalizable strategy for formulating a cell-laden microgel-based biphasic (MB) bioink. The MB bioink comprises two components, that is, microgels in closepacked condition providing excellent rheological properties for extrusion bioprinting, and a hydrogel precursor that forms a second polymer network to integrate the microgels together, providing post-printing structural stability. This strategy enables the effective printing of a range of hydrogels into complex structures with high shape fidelity. The MB bioink offers great mechanical tunability without compromising printability, and hyperelasticity with superb cyclic compression and stretch endurance. Moreover, the microgels and hydrogel precursor of the MB bioink can encapsulate different types of cells, together creating a heterogeneous cellular microenvironment at microscale. It is successfully demonstrated that hepatocytes and endothelial cells with spatial cell patterning by using MB bioink induce the cellular reorganization and vascularization, leading to enhanced hepatic functions. The proposed MB bioink expands the palette of available bioinks and opens numerous opportunities for the biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and soft robotics.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Printing of Cell‐Laden Microgel‐Based Biphasic Bioink with Heterogeneous Microenvironment for Biomedical Applications

Fang

Guo

et al. 2021

Adv Funct Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Biohybrid MNRs can be developed by merging non-living systems with biological components at various scales of molecules, cells, organisms, and tissues, to obtain desirable functions that integrate the advantageous features of living biological materials (e.g., high energy efficiency, high powerto-weight ratio, ample energy storage, environmental biocompatibility, self-repair, and self-assembly) and non-living systems (e.g., high accuracy, high strength, favorable repeatability, and controllability) (Williams et al, 2014;Park et al, 2017;Shao et al, 2017;Xu et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2018;Gao et al, 2021) (Figure 2C). To develop biohybrid MNRs that can display biomimetic behavior and execute on-demand tasks, proper structure design, functional modification (e.g., ligands, antibodies), and employment of powerful actuators (e.g., living cells, organisms) are requisite.…”

Section: Biohybrid Micro/nanorobotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Motile-targeting” drug delivery platforms based on micro/nanorobots for tumor therapy

Zhang

Liu

Guan

et al. 2022

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditional drug delivery systems opened the gate for tumor-targeted therapy, but they generally took advantage of enhanced permeability and retention or ligand-receptor mediated interaction, and thus suffered from limited recognition range (<0.5 nm) and low targeting efficiency (0.7%, median). Alternatively, micro/nanorobots (MNRs) may act as emerging “motile-targeting” drug delivery platforms to deliver therapeutic payloads, thereby making a giant step toward effective and safe cancer treatment due to their autonomous movement and navigation in biological media. This review focuses on the most recent developments of MNRs in “motile-targeting” drug delivery. After a brief introduction to traditional tumor-targeted drug delivery strategies and various MNRs, the representative applications of MNRs in “motile-targeting” drug delivery are systematically streamlined in terms of the propelling mechanisms. Following a discussion of the current challenges of each type of MNR in biomedical applications, as well as future prospects, several promising designs for MNRs that could benefit in “motile-targeting” drug delivery are proposed. This work is expected to attract and motivate researchers from different communities to advance the creation and practical application of the “motile-targeting” drug delivery platforms.

show abstract

“…Furthermore, biohybrid robots (biobots) developed by integrating living cells with soft materials have gained research interest (Sun et al, 2020). According to Gao et al (2021), researchers have used biological components with contractile cells as actuators to create diverse biobots with biomimetic behaviours and functions. Biohybrid robots utilised a variety of living cells and tissues as biological actuators, including cardiomyocytes, skeletal muscle cells, and optogenetic neuromuscular tissues.…”

Section: Recent Advancements In 3d Bioprintingmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Bioprinting: Introduction and Recent Advancement

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the additive manufacturing method known as 3D bioprinting, living cells and nutrients are joined with organic and biological components to produce synthetic structures that resemble natural human tissues. To put it another way, bioprinting is a type of 3D printing that can create anything from bone tissue and blood vessels to living tissues for a range of medical purposes, including tissue engineering and drug testing and discovery. During the bioprinting process, a solution of a biomaterial or a mixture of several biomaterials in the hydrogel form, usually encapsulating the desired cell types, which are termed as bioink, is used for creating tissue constructs. This bioink can be cross-linked or stabilised during or immediately after bioprinting to generate the designed construct's final shape, structure, and architecture. This report thus offers a comprehensive review of the 3D bioprinting technology along with associated 3D bioprinting methods including ink-jet printing, extrusion printing, stereolithography, laser-assisted bioprinting and microfluidic techniques. We also focus on the types of materials, cell source, maturing, the implant of various representative tissue and organs, including blood vessels, bone and cartilage as well as recent advancements related to 3D bioprinting technology.

show abstract

Recent progress in engineering functional biohybrid robots actuated by living cells

Cited by 37 publications

References 75 publications

3D Printing of Cell‐Laden Microgel‐Based Biphasic Bioink with Heterogeneous Microenvironment for Biomedical Applications

3D Printing of Cell‐Laden Microgel‐Based Biphasic Bioink with Heterogeneous Microenvironment for Biomedical Applications

“Motile-targeting” drug delivery platforms based on micro/nanorobots for tumor therapy

3D Bioprinting: Introduction and Recent Advancement

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About