Chapter 15
A Scaffold Free 3D Bioprinted Cartilage Model for In Vitro
Toxicology
Pallab Datta, Yang Wu, Yin Yu, Kazim K. Moncal,
and Ibrahim T. Ozbolat
Abstract
Bioprinting has emerged as a promising method for precise spatiotemporal patterning of biological
materials such as living cells, genetic materials, and proteins, which are sensitive to any other fabrication
techniques. Bioprinting allows the generation of tissue constructs and models that closely mimic the
anatomical and physiological attributes of a chosen tissue. In vitro toxicology assays can greatly benefit
from bioprinting as drugs can be screened with higher efficiencies in a significantly reduced period. This
protocol describes a method for fabricating bioprinted cartilage constructs which can be used for in vitro
toxicology studies employing a scalable “tissue strand” bioprinting modality.
Key words Scaffold-free bioprinting, Tissue strands, Micro-tissue fabrication
1 Introduction
Bioprinting, techniques to deposit cells and biological materials
into predefined three-dimensional (3D) patterns, can be carried
out in scaffold-based or scaffold-free methods [1]. The scaffoldbased method makes use of a hydrogel/polymer matrix which is
biocompatible. Some limitations associated with scaffold-based
techniques are biomaterials for support structure, number of cells
that can be incorporated, slow cell growth kinetics, and material
degradation [2, 3]. In comparison, scaffold-free techniques allow
cell bioprinting at high concentrations approaching cell concentrations in native tissue. Also, scaffold-free bioprinting does not
include exogenous biomaterials, which allows for more space for
ECM deposition, better cell-cell interactions, generation of tissues
with close biomimicry, preservation of cell functionality for longer
term, and elimination of biodegradation issues [4].
Bioprinting can be accomplished by any of three principal
methods, namely extrusion-based (EBB), droplet-based (DBB),
Alberto Rainer and Lorenzo Moroni (eds.), Computer-Aided Tissue Engineering: Methods and Protocols,
Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2147, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0611-7_15,
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
175
A Scaffold Free 3D Bioprinted Cartilage Model for In Vitro
Toxicology
Pallab Datta, Yang Wu, Yin Yu, Kazim K. Moncal,
and Ibrahim T. Ozbolat
Abstract
Bioprinting has emerged as a promising method for precise spatiotemporal patterning of biological
materials such as living cells, genetic materials, and proteins, which are sensitive to any other fabrication
techniques. Bioprinting allows the generation of tissue constructs and models that closely mimic the
anatomical and physiological attributes of a chosen tissue. In vitro toxicology assays can greatly benefit
from bioprinting as drugs can be screened with higher efficiencies in a significantly reduced period. This
protocol describes a method for fabricating bioprinted cartilage constructs which can be used for in vitro
toxicology studies employing a scalable “tissue strand” bioprinting modality.
Key words Scaffold-free bioprinting, Tissue strands, Micro-tissue fabrication
1 Introduction
Bioprinting, techniques to deposit cells and biological materials
into predefined three-dimensional (3D) patterns, can be carried
out in scaffold-based or scaffold-free methods [1]. The scaffoldbased method makes use of a hydrogel/polymer matrix which is
biocompatible. Some limitations associated with scaffold-based
techniques are biomaterials for support structure, number of cells
that can be incorporated, slow cell growth kinetics, and material
degradation [2, 3]. In comparison, scaffold-free techniques allow
cell bioprinting at high concentrations approaching cell concentrations in native tissue. Also, scaffold-free bioprinting does not
include exogenous biomaterials, which allows for more space for
ECM deposition, better cell-cell interactions, generation of tissues
with close biomimicry, preservation of cell functionality for longer
term, and elimination of biodegradation issues [4].
Bioprinting can be accomplished by any of three principal
methods, namely extrusion-based (EBB), droplet-based (DBB),
Alberto Rainer and Lorenzo Moroni (eds.), Computer-Aided Tissue Engineering: Methods and Protocols,
Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2147, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0611-7_15,
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
175