Skin from the 3D Printer Could Make Animal Testing Obsolete

With living skin tissue from a 3D printer, chronic inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, or acne could be researched, thereby replacing animal testing. This is demonstrated by Viennese researchers in a review article on advances in bioprinting, published in the journal "Advanced Healthcare Materials." Using specially designed bio-inks, they were able to develop models that allow the study of psoriasis, inflammation, or vascular damage.

Skin models from the 3D printer as an alternative to animal testing

Although about a quarter of the European population suffers from chronic inflammatory skin diseases, the range of therapies available is still incomplete. One reason for this is the challenging research of such diseases. Animal testing often does not yield good results due to differences from human skin and is ethically problematic.

Various methods for producing samples similar to human skin have several disadvantages. Co-author Georg Stary from the Department of Dermatology at the Medical University of Vienna mentions, for example, the lack of control over the spatial structure of the tissue, short lifespan, high labor effort, and lack of reproducibility.

At TU Wien, they aim to have solved these problems using a 3D printing method, as co-author Aleksandr Ovsianikov, head of the research group 3D Printing and Biofabrication, emphasized. "We build a three-dimensional tissue layer by layer from living cells, biopolymers, and carefully selected materials."

Bioprinting with Customized Bio-Ink

For this, a thick bio-ink is created from cells and a hydrogel, which is then applied in small droplets, similar to paint in an inkjet printer. This allows for a completely different level of control over the final result than was previously possible. The hydrogel is based on gelatin, a material derived from collagen, which has been chemically modified to make it stable and suitable for bioprinting, explained lead author Andrea Ulloa-Fernández from the TU to the APA.

Depending on which disease is to be studied on the skin model, specially designed bio-inks are needed. The TU researchers have developed a model for psoriasis. For healthy skin, they used dermal fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocytes, while psoriasis was induced using pro-inflammatory interleukins or immune cells, according to Ulloa-Fernández. Even structures with blood vessels can be 3D printed to study, for example, vascular damage in diabetes.

Applications for Research and Industry

The 3D-printed tissue model requires an appropriate environment to deliver realistic results: "We cultivate our model in an air-liquid interface," explained Ulloa-Fernández. In this process, the tissue is supplied with nutrients from the cell culture medium from below, while the top is exposed to air, allowing for proper maturation of the epidermis as in the human body. The TU researchers' models are not yet used in preclinical studies, but the interest from industry is significant, they emphasize.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.