Fabrication of liver-like structure by 3D printer

Article information
Development of a 3D cell printed construct considering angiogenesis for liver tissue engineering.
Lee JW, Choi YJ, Yong WJ, Pati F, Shim JH, Kang KS, Kang IH, Park J, Cho DW.
Biofabrication. 2016 Jan 12;8(1):015007. PMID: 26756962

Overview
Approximately 2.5 million people suffer from end-stage liver disease in the United States, but the only treatment method is liver transplantation; given the shortage of donors, most of these patients die before tissue becomes available.

Primary hepatocellular transplantation has attracted attention as an alternative treatment. At the same time, biodegradable scaffolds are being incorporated into research to improve the survival and functional maintenance of primary hepatocytes. Although various hydrogels have been used for liver tissue engineering, the strength of these hydrogels typically has not been sufficient to maintain the needed structure.

Therefore, the authors created a framework of polycaprolactan (PCL), layer-by-layer, using a 3D printer. The 3D printer was also used to transfer the collagen-encased rat primary hepatocytes, human lung fibroblasts, and human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells into the framework,  yielding a liver-like 3D structure.

As a result, remarkable albumin-producing ability and urea-synthesizing ability were observed in the group seeded with all three types of cells compared to the primary hepatocytes alone or the group in which primary hepatocytes and fibroblasts (without endothelial cells) were seeded.

High-purity type I atelocollagen processed in powder form

Product name
– Atelocollagen Powder (Cat. No.: CLP-01)