When scientists and clinicians study disease, they rely on the traditional progression of bench experiments to animal models. Since this is a time-consuming process with high failure rates, researchers need alternatives that can replicate the complexity of the human body in an inexpensive and accessible manner.
The emerging field of experimental organoids—layers of tissue and vasculature that resemble an “organ in a dish”—has helped to bridge the gap between bench work, animal models, and clinical trials. However, these three-dimensional, multicellular constructs require sequential stem cell development and careful maintenance.
The use of bioprinters is gaining popularity across diverse fields of research and medicine as an inexpensive and effective alternative to traditional animal models. To accelerate the development of 3D tissue models, Humabiologics, a leading company in human-derived bioinks, recently partnered with Allegro 3D to advance bioprinters and help researchers and clinicians develop better tools for studying disease.
Animal Models Are Limited and Expensive
For decades, scientists have warned of the limitations of animal models as an approximation for human health and disease. Researchers have determined that results of drug trials and disease experiments are often dependent on the specific type of animal model used, identifying artifacts in data collection depending on the species and living conditions of animal subjects. For example, the microbiota—the community of microbes living inside an organism—affects the biology of mouse models of colorectal cancer. For years, this complicated our understanding of how the disease develops and prevented identification of novel chemotherapeutic agents.
Scientists cannot advance early-stage, experimental therapeutics directly to clinical trials, and it is often difficult or unethical to study the origins and development of disease in humans. To improve medical research, scientists need reliable, inexpensive models of human tissues that can be used in the lab to study how disease emerges and discover new ways to treat illness.
One elegant solution to this problem is using human-derived cell lines, stem cells, and other patient samples. Although many labs use these cell lines in the early stages of experimentation, they are also limited when it comes to accurately reflecting the 3D architecture and complexity of human tissues. With the widespread adoption of 3D printing, scientists realize the potential of using 3D printed tissues as an excellent approximation of human complexity within a laboratory environment.
What Is 3D Bioprinting?
Over the past several years, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved multiple 3D printers for use in clinical settings, including for orthopedic and restorative devices. Most of the current applications of 3D printing in healthcare and biological sciences involve non-living constructs used for protheses, training, or custom equipment. But the potential of 3D printing goes well beyond synthetic, non-living prospects. The emerging field of 3D printed biological samples stands to revolutionize medicine and basic biology research.
3D bioprinting involves the same principles as 3D printing but relies on “bioinks” composed of living cells or active biomolecules. The layer-by-layer printing process allows bioprinters to deposit these bioinks to create 3D structures, including human-derived tissues.
There are three main types of bioprinting: extrusion, inkjet, and laser-assisted. Extrusion bioprinting uses a pressure-based system to create continuous filaments deposited on a substrate such as a gel matrix or culture plate. As the name implies, inkjet bioprinting uses the same process as inkjet printers you might find in your home or office. These bioprinters will deposit a small amount of bioink onto a hydrogel surface without direct contact. Finally, laser-assisted bioprinting uses the energy generated by a laser to deposit biomaterials onto the substrate of interest.
Choosing one bioprinting technology over another depends on what biological materials need to be printed, accuracy requirements, and printing speed. Laser-based and extrusion-based technologies are more accurate than inkjet systems, but inkjet bioprinters remain the most cost-effective option available on the market.
What Sets the Allegro STEMAKER Bioprinter Apart?
Although different types of bioprinters are currently available, Allegro 3D offers the first digital light processing (DLP)-based bioprinter in its STEMAKER model. Within seconds, the printer can create functional tissue models in culture plates. Live tissue constructs include advanced features such as vascularity for use in therapeutic design, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine. The efficient printing process is ideal for high-throughput screening applications, including drug discovery.
The STEMAKER bioprinter can also interface with clinical CT/MRI scans and CAD programs to facilitate the printing of complex biological structures. Using their bioinks, researchers and clinicians can 3D print using living cells from almost every major part of the human body, including the liver, heart, brain, and lungs.
Although current research uses 3D bioprinters to make human-derived tissues for experimental studies, most systems cannot make tissues larger than a few millimeters. One of the main reasons for this size limitation is the inability of bioprinters to reliably recreate the complex vascular networks required for all tissues.
A Partnership to Foster Tissue Model Innovation
To accelerate the production of tissue models for research and development, Humabiologics and Allegro 3D have formed a new partnership.
“We are excited to partner with Allegro 3D to provide clinically-relevant human-derived biomaterials that allow for fabricating human tissue models for rapid drug screening,” said Dr. Mohammad Albanna, CEO and founder of Humabiologics. “Our off-the-shelf human bioinks complement Allegro 3D’s transformative bioprinting technology and we look forward to developing other bioink formulas through our partnership to support researchers who are looking for reliable alternatives to animal testing for drug discovery.”
Through this partnership, researchers and clinicians will be able to print 3D tissue models using human-derived materials. This is an important bridge between laboratory bench work and clinical trials, and allows academic and industry scientists to effectively evaluate therapeutic interventions using a rapid and customizable model. Unlike traditional animal models like mice and rats, 3D tissue models will allow rapid screening on a large scale, and inexpensive evaluation of early products.
A regenerative medicine start-up, Humabiologics’ goal is to provide a stable supply chain of human-derived biomaterials for applications in medicine and research. This partnership will accelerate innovation through the seamless adoption of human-derived biomaterials to a 3D printing platform. The final product will be custom 3D printed human tissues available in minutes and ready for use across research disciplines.
“Allegro 3D aspires to accelerate precision medicine with our rapid high-throughput bioprinters and a wide selection of bioinks,” said Dr. Wei Zhu, CEO and co-founder of Allegro 3D. “By partnering with Humabiologics, we are proud to be the first bioprinting company to provide total solutions for manufacturing clinically-relevant human tissues with human-derived biomaterials.”
Humabiologics’ human-derived bioinks are now available through Allegro 3D’s website. With a common goal of advancing human health through innovative biomaterials, Humabiologics and Allegro 3D stand to revolutionize the process of drug discovery and the development of human models of disease.
Beyond 3D Bioprinting of Tissues
Although organ transplants and other custom tissues often come to mind when considering 3D bioprinting, the biological applications of bioprinters extend beyond tissues. Recent work found that a 3D printed scaffold containing the common antibiotic rifampicin had the potential to treat inflammation and swelling in bone, otherwise known as osteomyelitis. Another group also used 3D printing to modify the internal geometry of paracetamol tablets to create a controlled release profile tailored to individual patient needs.
With continued innovation in both bioprinter technology and the diversity of available bioinks, scientists and clinicians can continue to find new applications for this system across numerous disciplines. Hopefully, the new partnership between Humabiologics and Allegro 3D will facilitate the widespread adoption of 3D printed tissues for laboratory experiments and high-throughput drug discovery.