NEWS 3

Seeking immunity:

Prize Response:

Shots with teeth:

Researchers aim to characterize immune diversity

A summary of the headlines in biomedicine

Scientists keep up efforts to improve the rabies vaccine

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research. In Vancouver, Canada, The promise of using specially designed the startup Aspect Biosystems is printers to create biomaterials for developing technology for the same medical purposes continues to make purpose. Likewise, Texas-based headlines. Two years ago, for example, Nano3D Biosciences offers technology researchers at the at the University of for scientists to print 3D spheroids that Michigan announced they had helped mimic native tissue environments. In save the life of an infant suffering October, researchers from Nano3D from a failing trachea by creating part Biosciences and the Houston Methodist of a windpipe replacement using a Research Institute published a study printing device that created a specially showing that they could construct modeled biocompatible plastic called 3D tissue models of breast tumors; polycaprolactone. But whereas this preliminary tests using chemotherapy and other medical applications of drugs such as doxorubicin suggested 3D printing have largely focused on that these 3D models might better custom-designed implants made to model actual tumor response to treat a specific condition, industry and therapeutics than 2D cell cultures (Sci. academia are increasingly considering Rep. doi:10.1038/srep06468, 2014). the potential of 3D-printed cells and According to its proponents, 3D tissues for screening experimental Model organ: Cells taken from the liver (pictured) are used printing offers greater reproducibility in therapeutic compounds, in hopes of to print structures that model the tissue. experiments compared with other tissue reducing costs, shortening timelines and models because it allows the user to reducing the need for animal research in using animal models, you can use organoids drug development. that can replicate some of the functionality control the structure of the tissue. “Because of the printing we are able to create the Several academic and commercial labs of the organ.” have already printed tiny, 3D organ-like Currently, live tissue can be 3D printed architecture in those tissues, such that we structures called organoids; each of these either by using a biodegradable scaffold can print the cell types in specific patterns,” tiny models might consist, for example, of (printed by a machine in thin layers) that says Presnell. This can allow different cell kidney, cardiac or skin cells. But producing can direct the pattern in which the cells are types to share spatial relationships that these from scratch can be labor intensive. arranged, or by orchestrating the printing mimic human livers better than other Organovo hopes to offer a customizable process without a scaffold at all and simply existing models. Still, some scientists say that more alternative. In November, the San Diego- printing cells atop one another in specific based company began offering its 3D-printed arrangements. The scaffold-free exVive3D research is needed to understand whether ‘exVive3D’ liver tissue models to screen liver tissue consists of human liver cells, the purported advantages of 3D-printed pharmaceutical drugs in an effort to provide including primary hepatocytes, stellate tissues over 2D cultures bear out. Brian better predictors of liver toxicity early in the cells and endothelial cells. Donor human Derby, a material scientist at the University research pipeline. Organovo worked with the liver cells are used to prepare a ‘bioink’, of Manchester in the UK, says that people Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche in the that is fed into a specialized 3D printer from the pharmaceutical industry are earlier stages of developing the model tissue which patterns the cells, layer by layer, to very interested in the concept of such as a screening product, and plans to offer it build a 3D structure that is about 500 mm drug development models but he is “not as a part of their contract research services to in thickness. According to Sharon Presnell, convinced” until more scientific literature drug companies. Organovo’s chief technology officer, after an demonstrates that those currently being “Three-dimensional printing has really incubation time of 60 hours these cells form offered work well. advanced in the last few years, especially vascular structures, produce liver proteins Atala, for his part, remains optimistic for printing tissues,” explains Anthony such as albumin and fibrinogen, display about the efforts of Organovo and others to Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute enzyme markers and stay viable for at least make 3D-printed models available for drug for Regenerative Medicine, a leading center 42 days. development. “It’s hard to say which one will for bioprinted tissues. “To create miniature work best,” he says “But it’s good that they’re organ structures that can be used for drug Model behavior coming out with this technology, because they testing is a major area of interest right now Organovo is far from alone in aiming can show that these things actually work.” and one of the advantages is [that] instead of to provide 3D-printed tissues for drug Manasi Vaidya dieKleinert / Alamy

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Startups tout commercially 3D-printed tissue for drug screening

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VOLUME 21 | NUMBER 1 | JANUARY 2015 NATURE MEDICINE

Startups tout commercially 3D-printed tissue for drug screening.

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