This technique features a high-throughput, low cost, and high reproducibility, and it can also provide an alternative model to conventional cell monolayer cultures and animal tumor models to study cancer biology.Īlthough 2D cell culture is widely used in cancer research, limitations exist as the cells are grown in a monolayer format with a uniform concentration of nutrients and oxygen. By using bioprinted cell culture platforms as co-culture systems, it offers a unique tool to study the dependence of tumorigenesis on the stroma composition. We observed the migration and interaction of the cancer-associated fibroblast cells (CAFs) with the MCTS in this model. The bioprinted heterogeneous model achieves a high viability for long-term cell culture (> 30 days) and promotes the self-assembly of breast cancer cells into multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS). Breast cancer cells and fibroblasts were embedded in the hydrogels and printed to form a 3D model mimicking the in vivo microenvironment. We studied the printability of the composite hydrogel via rheology and obtained the optimal printing window. By combining the two polymers, we achieved a bioprintable composite hydrogel with similarities to the microscopic architecture of a native tumor stroma.

Alginate and gelatin are two of the most common biomaterials employed in bioprinting due to their biocompatibility, biomimicry, and mechanical properties. These challenges can be overcome by using bioprinting techniques to build heterogeneous three-dimensional (3D) tumor models whereby different types of cells are embedded. The cellular, biochemical, and biophysical heterogeneity of the native tumor microenvironment is not recapitulated by growing immortalized cancer cell lines using conventional two-dimensional (2D) cell culture.

Gelatin edge blending