Scientists have 3D bioprinted functioning human brain tissue

Scientists have created brain “organoids” for years, but there are limitations to the tiny, lab-grown cultures. One of the most frustrating issues is a lack of control over their design, which often limits an organoid’s functionality and use. Although researchers long suspected 3D-printing could offer a solution, the workaround has so far proven difficult and ineffective. A new production breakthrough, however, could solve the longstanding barrier, and one day offer new ways of exploring treatment for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzeheimer’s.

As detailed in the new issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed a novel 3D-printing approach for creating cultures that grow and operate similar to brain tissue. While traditional 3D-printing involves layering “bio-ink” vertically like a cake, the team instead tasked their machine to print horizontally, as if playing dominoes.

As New Atlas explains, researchers placed neurons grown from pluripotent stem cells (those capable of becoming multiple different cell types) within a new bio-ink gel made with fibrinogen and thrombin, biomaterials involved in blood clotting. Adding other hydrogels then helped loosen the bio-ink to solve for the 3 encountered during previous 3D-printed tissue experiments.

According to Su-Chun Zhang, a research lead and UW-Madison professor of neuroscience and neurology, the resultant tissue is resilient enough to maintain its structure, but also sufficiently malleable to permit adequate levels of oxygen and nutrient intake for the neurons.

“The tissue still has enough structure to hold together but it is soft enough to allow the neurons to grow into each other and start talking to each other,” Zhang explains in a recent university profile.

https://www.popsci.com/science/3d-printed-brain-tissue/

At my alma mater! I am so proud to be a Badger!