3D Bioprinting in Biomedical Research and Drug Development

Dear Colleagues,

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting set out with the ambitious goal of building replacement organs in the laboratory. Despite significant progress, however, organ printing remains a long-term goal whose attainment depends on further developments in polymer chemistry and in our understanding of the self-organization of biological cells into tissues and organs.

Nevertheless, 3D bioprinting is a vibrant research field with important practical applications within reach today. Bioprinted model tissues comprising human cells are being used as disease models by themselves, or in combination with microfluidic devices and/or bioreactors capable of replicating biomimetic conditions. Functional model tissues also serve as test benches for new drugs, thereby bridging the gap between animal models and clinical trials. Bioprinted models of the tumor microenvironment have provided exciting insights into the role of peritumoral cells in tumor progression and demonstrated that anticancer drugs are less effective in 3D cancer models than in 2D cultures of malignant cells. Novel hydrogels based on a tissue-specific extracellular matrix have induced cell differentiation and boosted cell proliferation and angiogenesis, leading to faster tissue maturation. Progress in stem cell biology, material science and microtechnologies has enabled the large-scale production of organoids and cell aggregates. These have been used as building blocks of tissue constructs, dispensed with specifically designed bioprinters, but also as suspension media for extrusion-based bioprinting of sacrificial hydrogels, giving rise to perfusable tissue constructs of clinically relevant size. Bioprinting has been found useful in the high-throughput fabrication of tissue-on-a-chip devices. The current tendency is to build interconnected organ-on-a-chip systems to mimic the physiological interplay of various organs under normal and pathological conditions. Drug testing on chains of organ-on-a-chip devices is anticipated to streamline the assessment of side effects. 

This Special Issue welcomes contributions from the 3D bioprinting community. The plan is to attract both fundamental and applicative research papers, as well as review articles, providing a snapshot of the state of the art in 3D bioprinting. The hope is that new ideas will be sparked along the way.  

Prof. Dr. Adrian Neagu
Guest Editor

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• bioprinted tissue constructs
• organoids
• cell spheroids
• tumor microenvironment
• drug screening