Tumor Cells Develop Defined Cellular Phenotypes After 3D-Bioprinting in Different Bioinks

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Malignant melanoma is often used as a model tumor for the establishment of novel therapies. It is known that two-dimensional (2D) culture methods are not sufficient to elucidate the various processes during cancer development and progression. Therefore, it is of major interest to establish defined biofabricated three-dimensional (3D) models, which help to decipher complex cellular interactions. To get an impression of their printability and subsequent behavior, we printed fluorescently labeled melanoma cell lines with Matrigel and two different types of commercially available bioinks, without or with modification (RGD (Arginine-Glycine-Aspartate)-sequence/laminin-mixture) for increased cell-matrix communication. In general, we demonstrated the printability of melanoma cells in all tested biomaterials and survival of the printed cells throughout 14 days of cultivation. Melanoma cell lines revealed specific differential behavior in the respective inks. Whereas in Matrigel, the cells were able to spread, proliferate and form dense networks throughout the construct, the cells showed no proliferation at all in alginate-based bioink. In gelatin methacrylate-based bioink, the cells proliferated in clusters. Surprisingly, the modifications of the bioinks with RGD or the laminin blend did not affect the analyzed cellular behavior. Our results underline the importance of precisely adapti

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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