The acoustic droplet printing of functional tumor microenvironments

Abstract

The fabrication of functional tissue is important for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and biological research. However, current 3D bioprinting technologies mean it is hard to precisely arrange bioinks (composed of cells and materials) in a high-fidelity 3D structure and print cells of multiple types with sufficient concentrations and superior viabilities; this can severely constrain cell growth, interactions, and functions. Here, an acoustic droplet printing method is introduced to solve these problems in 3D bioprinting. Being nozzle-free, the acoustic printer stably enables high-concentration cells, or even cell spheroids, to be printed without clogging. Cell viability (>94%) using post acoustic printing is higher than those obtained with currently used inkjet-based (>85%) and extrusion-based (40–80%) bioprinting methods. Also, this method involves a small printer that can be flexibly integrated, allowing different kinds of bioinks to be printed. Moreover, the limited printability of low-concentration gelatin methacryloyl (5% (w/v) GelMA) materials is overcome by determining the positioning, fluidity (e.g., spreading), and 3D morphology of the GelMA droplets; therefore, high-fidelity 3D constructs can be fabricated. As a proof of concept, a tumor microenvironment consisting of one tumor spheroid surrounded by a high concentration of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) was constructed; this was able to establish a dynamic tumor invasion function modulated by reciprocal tumor cell–CAF interactions. The nozzle-free, contact-free, and low cell-damage merits of this method will advance bioprinting, allowing the creation of more functional native tissues, organoids, or disease models.