Abstract

Biofabrication of Heart Tissues using Cardiac Spheroids and 3D Bioprinting Technology for in vitro and in vivo Applications

Carmine Gentile, , University of Technology Sydney

3D bioprinting technology has emerged in the past 15 years as a tool for the bioengineering of human tissues and organs. In this approach, bioinks containing tissue-specific cells are deposited within permissive hydrogels to 3D bioprint viable and functional tissues. Dr Gentile’s team has developed cardiac bioinks by co-culturing cardiac cells in 3D as cardiac spheroids, which are then embedded in specialized hydrogels. 3D bioprinted heart tissues are viable, highly vascularized and contract synchronously when electrically paced. They are currently used for in vitro drug discovery and toxicity studies, for disease modeling of myocardial damage (i.e., heart attack in a Petri dish) and for cardiac regeneration purposes in vivo. Given their unique features in recapitulating the microenvironment typical of the human heart and its pathophysiology, 3D bioprinted heart tissues have the potential to be used to both prevent and treat cardiovascular disease in patients.