Researchers use 3D bioprinting to produce artificial blood vessels
The work from CIC biomaGUNE offers new ways to study diseases and test treatments
Traditional disease research often relies on animal models or cell cultures, but these approaches lack the complexity of human tissue. Advances in 3D printing and biomaterials are now enabling researchers to recreate intricate 3D tissue models in the lab, offering new ways to study diseases and test treatments.
At CIC biomaGUNE, the Hybrid Biofunctional Materials group, led by Ikerbasque Research Fellow Dorleta Jimenez de Aberasturi, is combining bioprinting techniques with nanomaterials to create tissue models containing layered vessels that respond to external stimuli. Since blood vessels supply tissue with oxygen and nutrients, developing realistic vascular models is key for understanding diseases, testing therapies, and even creating grafts.
The work is published here.
Drs. Jimenez de Aberasturi, Uxue Aizarna, and Malou Henriksen have made progress in developing materials that allow for tissue models closer to reality. High-precision printers require “ink” with specific properties – materials that support both printability and cell survival.
In collaboration with Maastricht University, the team used embedded bioprinting to “print soft or liquid materials that cannot be printed in air, as they would become distorted or collapse before solidifying.” This approach enabled the creation of a blood vessel model with concentric layers resembling an artery.
Working with Utrecht University, they applied volumetric bioprinting to add valves to artery models. This method “involves forming the whole volume of the structure at the same time by projecting images of the design onto a specific volume of the resin or material developed, and then curing (hardening) the material,” according to Jimenez de Aberasturi. The researchers managed “with great precision to design and print a valve that can be opened and closed by applying an external stimulus, similar to those found in the heart.” They even produced patient-specific arteries and veins.
Both projects used methacrylated gelatin – compatible with cells and light-sensitive – combined with an extracellular matrix from pig pulmonary arteries. To mimic the forces of blood pressure, the team added gold nanoparticles, which interact strongly with light.
This approach allowed the CIC biomaGUNE researchers to create artificial arteries that mimic arterial pulse under laser stimulation. “By combining these improved materials and various printing techniques, we managed to produce more complex structures that are much more similar to those found in the human body,” they said. Yet they emphasized, “this is a very complex process… there are still steps to be taken. And every step is a world unto itself.”
