TY - JOUR A1 - Gensler, Marius A1 - Leikeim, Anna A1 - Möllmann, Marc A1 - Komma, Miriam A1 - Heid, Susanne A1 - Müller, Claudia A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Salehi, Sahar A1 - Groeber-Becker, Florian A1 - Hansmann, Jan T1 - 3D printing of bioreactors in tissue engineering: A generalised approach JF - PLoS One N2 - 3D printing is a rapidly evolving field for biological (bioprinting) and non-biological applications. Due to a high degree of freedom for geometrical parameters in 3D printing, prototype printing of bioreactors is a promising approach in the field of Tissue Engineering. The variety of printers, materials, printing parameters and device settings is difficult to overview both for beginners as well as for most professionals. In order to address this problem, we designed a guidance including test bodies to elucidate the real printing performance for a given printer system. Therefore, performance parameters such as accuracy or mechanical stability of the test bodies are systematically analysed. Moreover, post processing steps such as sterilisation or cleaning are considered in the test procedure. The guidance presented here is also applicable to optimise the printer settings for a given printer device. As proof of concept, we compared fused filament fabrication, stereolithography and selective laser sintering as the three most used printing methods. We determined fused filament fabrication printing as the most economical solution, while stereolithography is most accurate and features the highest surface quality. Finally, we tested the applicability of our guidance by identifying a printer solution to manufacture a complex bioreactor for a perfused tissue construct. Due to its design, the manufacture via subtractive mechanical methods would be 21-fold more expensive than additive manufacturing and therefore, would result in three times the number of parts to be assembled subsequently. Using this bioreactor we showed a successful 14-day-culture of a biofabricated collagen-based tissue construct containing human dermal fibroblasts as the stromal part and a perfusable central channel with human microvascular endothelial cells. Our study indicates how the full potential of biofabrication can be exploited, as most printed tissues exhibit individual shapes and require storage under physiological conditions, after the bioprinting process. KW - stem cells KW - technology Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-231368 VL - 15 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - An, Ran A1 - Strissel, Pamela L. A1 - Al-Abboodi, Majida A1 - Robering, Jan W. A1 - Supachai, Reakasame A1 - Eckstein, Markus A1 - Peddi, Ajay A1 - Hauck, Theresa A1 - Bäuerle, Tobias A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Youssef, Almoatazbellah A1 - Sun, Jiaming A1 - Strick, Reiner A1 - Horch, Raymund E. A1 - Boos, Anja M. A1 - Kengelbach-Weigand, Annika T1 - An innovative arteriovenous (AV) loop breast cancer model tailored for cancer research JF - Bioengineering N2 - Animal models are important tools to investigate the pathogenesis and develop treatment strategies for breast cancer in humans. In this study, we developed a new three-dimensional in vivo arteriovenous loop model of human breast cancer with the aid of biodegradable materials, including fibrin, alginate, and polycaprolactone. We examined the in vivo effects of various matrices on the growth of breast cancer cells by imaging and immunohistochemistry evaluation. Our findings clearly demonstrate that vascularized breast cancer microtissues could be engineered and recapitulate the in vivo situation and tumor-stromal interaction within an isolated environment in an in vivo organism. Alginate–fibrin hybrid matrices were considered as a highly powerful material for breast tumor engineering based on its stability and biocompatibility. We propose that the novel tumor model may not only serve as an invaluable platform for analyzing and understanding the molecular mechanisms and pattern of oncologic diseases, but also be tailored for individual therapy via transplantation of breast cancer patient-derived tumors. KW - arteriovenous loop KW - breast cancer KW - animal model Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-278919 SN - 2306-5354 VL - 9 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rath, Subha N. A1 - Brandl, Andreas A1 - Hiller, Daniel A1 - Hoppe, Alexander A1 - Gbureck, Uwe A1 - Horch, Raymund E. A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Kneser, Ulrich T1 - Bioactive Copper-Doped Glass Scaffolds Can Stimulate Endothelial Cells in Co-Culture in Combination with Mesenchymal Stem Cells JF - PLOS ONE N2 - Bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds are being investigated for bone tissue engineering applications because of their osteoconductive and angiogenic nature. However, to increase the in vivo performance of the scaffold, including enhancing the angiogenetic growth into the scaffolds, some researchers use different modifications of the scaffold including addition of inorganic ionic components to the basic BG composition. In this study, we investigated the in vitro biocompatibility and bioactivity of Cu2+-doped BG derived scaffolds in either BMSC (bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells)-only culture or co-culture of BMSC and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC). In BMSC-only culture, cells were seeded either directly on the scaffolds (3D or direct culture) or were exposed to ionic dissolution products of the BG scaffolds, kept in permeable cell culture inserts (2D or indirect culture). Though we did not observe any direct osteoinduction of BMSCs by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay or by PCR, there was increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, observed by PCR and ELISA assays. Additionally, the scaffolds showed no toxicity to BMSCs and there were healthy live cells found throughout the scaffold. To analyze further the reasons behind the increased VEGF expression and to exploit the benefits of the finding, we used the indirect method with HDMECs in culture plastic and Cu2+-doped BG scaffolds with or without BMSCs in cell culture inserts. There was clear observation of increased endothelial markers by both FACS analysis and acetylated LDL (acLDL) uptake assay. Only in presence of Cu2+-doped BG scaffolds with BMSCs, a high VEGF secretion was demonstrated by ELISA; and typical tubular structures were observed in culture plastics. We conclude that Cu2+-doped BG scaffolds release Cu2+, which in turn act on BMSCs to secrete VEGF. This result is of significance for the application of BG scaffolds in bone tissue engineering approaches. KW - arteriovenous loop KW - calcium-phosphate KW - iron release KW - bone KW - angiogenesis KW - expression KW - differentation KW - proliferation KW - osteoblasts KW - growth Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-114339 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 9 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmid, Rafael A1 - Schmidt, Sonja K. A1 - Hazur, Jonas A1 - Detsch, Rainer A1 - Maurer, Evelyn A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Hauptstein, Julia A1 - Teßmar, Jörg A1 - Blunk, Torsten A1 - Schrüfer, Stefan A1 - Schubert, Dirk W. A1 - Horch, Raymund E. A1 - Bosserhoff, Anja K. A1 - Arkudas, Andreas A1 - Kengelbach-Weigand, Annika T1 - Comparison of hydrogels for the development of well-defined 3D cancer models of breast cancer and melanoma JF - Cancers N2 - Bioprinting offers the opportunity to fabricate precise 3D tumor models to study tumor pathophysiology and progression. However, the choice of the bioink used is important. In this study, cell behavior was studied in three mechanically and biologically different hydrogels (alginate, alginate dialdehyde crosslinked with gelatin (ADA–GEL), and thiol-modified hyaluronan (HA-SH crosslinked with PEGDA)) with cells from breast cancer (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) and melanoma (Mel Im and MV3), by analyzing survival, growth, and the amount of metabolically active, living cells via WST-8 labeling. Material characteristics were analyzed by dynamic mechanical analysis. Cell lines revealed significantly increased cell numbers in low-percentage alginate and HA-SH from day 1 to 14, while only Mel Im also revealed an increase in ADA–GEL. MCF-7 showed a preference for 1% alginate. Melanoma cells tended to proliferate better in ADA–GEL and HA-SH than mammary carcinoma cells. In 1% alginate, breast cancer cells showed equally good proliferation compared to melanoma cell lines. A smaller area was colonized in high-percentage alginate-based hydrogels. Moreover, 3% alginate was the stiffest material, and 2.5% ADA–GEL was the softest material. The other hydrogels were in the same range in between. Therefore, cellular responses were not only stiffness-dependent. With 1% alginate and HA-SH, we identified matrices that enable proliferation of all tested tumor cell lines while maintaining expected tumor heterogeneity. By adapting hydrogels, differences could be accentuated. This opens up the possibility of understanding and analyzing tumor heterogeneity by biofabrication. KW - breast cancer KW - melanoma KW - biofabrication KW - hydrogel KW - tumor heterogeneity Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-211195 SN - 2072-6694 VL - 12 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Janzen, Dieter A1 - Bakirci, Ezgi A1 - Faber, Jessica A1 - Andrade Mier, Mateo A1 - Hauptstein, Julia A1 - Pal, Arindam A1 - Forster, Leonard A1 - Hazur, Jonas A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Detsch, Rainer A1 - Teßmar, Jörg A1 - Budday, Silvia A1 - Blunk, Torsten A1 - Dalton, Paul D. A1 - Villmann, Carmen T1 - Reinforced Hyaluronic Acid-Based Matrices Promote 3D Neuronal Network Formation JF - Advanced Healthcare Materials N2 - 3D neuronal cultures attempt to better replicate the in vivo environment to study neurological/neurodegenerative diseases compared to 2D models. A challenge to establish 3D neuron culture models is the low elastic modulus (30–500 Pa) of the native brain. Here, an ultra-soft matrix based on thiolated hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) reinforced with a microfiber frame is formulated and used. Hyaluronic acid represents an essential component of the brain extracellular matrix (ECM). Box-shaped frames with a microfiber spacing of 200 µm composed of 10-layers of poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) microfibers (9.7 ± 0.2 µm) made via melt electrowriting (MEW) are used to reinforce the HA-SH matrix which has an elastic modulus of 95 Pa. The neuronal viability is low in pure HA-SH matrix, however, when astrocytes are pre-seeded below this reinforced construct, they significantly support neuronal survival, network formation quantified by neurite length, and neuronal firing shown by Ca\(^{2+}\) imaging. The astrocyte-seeded HA-SH matrix is able to match the neuronal viability to the level of Matrigel, a gold standard matrix for neuronal culture for over two decades. Thus, this 3D MEW frame reinforced HA-SH composite with neurons and astrocytes constitutes a reliable and reproducible system to further study brain diseases. KW - 3D model systems KW - melt electrowriting KW - cortical neurons KW - astrocytes KW - Ca\(^{2+}\)-Imaging KW - hyaluronic acid Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-318682 VL - 11 IS - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Karakaya, Emine A1 - Bider, Faina A1 - Frank, Andreas A1 - Teßmar, Jörg A1 - Schöbel, Lisa A1 - Forster, Leonard A1 - Schrüfer, Stefan A1 - Schmidt, Hans-Werner A1 - Schubert, Dirk Wolfram A1 - Blaeser, Andreas A1 - Boccaccini, Aldo R. A1 - Detsch, Rainer T1 - Targeted printing of cells: evaluation of ADA-PEG bioinks for drop on demand approaches JF - Gels N2 - A novel approach, in the context of bioprinting, is the targeted printing of a defined number of cells at desired positions in predefined locations, which thereby opens up new perspectives for life science engineering. One major challenge in this application is to realize the targeted printing of cells onto a gel substrate with high cell survival rates in advanced bioinks. For this purpose, different alginate-dialdehyde—polyethylene glycol (ADA-PEG) inks with different PEG modifications and chain lengths (1–8 kDa) were characterized to evaluate their application as bioinks for drop on demand (DoD) printing. The biochemical properties of the inks, printing process, NIH/3T3 fibroblast cell distribution within a droplet and shear forces during printing were analyzed. Finally, different hydrogels were evaluated as a printing substrate. By analysing different PEG chain lengths with covalently crosslinked and non-crosslinked ADA-PEG inks, it was shown that the influence of Schiff's bases on the viscosity of the corresponding materials is very low. Furthermore, it was shown that longer polymer chains resulted in less stable hydrogels, leading to fast degradation rates. Several bioinks highly exhibit biocompatibility, while the calculated nozzle shear stress increased from approx. 1.3 and 2.3 kPa. Moreover, we determined the number of cells for printed droplets depending on the initial cell concentration, which is crucially needed for targeted cell printing approaches. KW - bioprinting KW - drop on demand KW - sodium alginate KW - polyethylene glycol KW - shear stress Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267317 SN - 2310-2861 VL - 8 IS - 4 ER -