Evaluating Liver Toxicity in Bioprinted Mini Livers
To accurately and reproducibly predict drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in humans, in vitro 3D liver models can replace costly and low-throughput 2D cell culture systems, animal studies or lab-on-a-chip models. The new method of “droplet in droplet” (DID) bioprinting uses the BIO X to droplet-print hepatic (HepG2 and LX2) and non-hepatic (HUVEC) cells encapsulated in type I collagen. After 7 days of culture, these mini livers demonstrated cytotoxic responses to drugs, further validating 3D bioprinting as a viable high-throughput solution for modeling hepatic tissue and screening idiosyncratic drug reactions.
Learn how:
- To use the BIO X to produce functional 3D bioprinted liver models as reliable alternatives to 2D cell culture systems, animal studies or lab-on-a-chip prototypes.
- Using the 3D bioprinted mini livers enables high-throughput drug screening and analysis.
- Incorporating type I collagen for DID models provides a stable, tunable and highly compatible environment with abundant binding sites for hepatic cellular rearrangement and spheroid formation.
- A DID model allows for cell-cell interactions between layers of tissue and provides a unique opportunity to investigate migration patterns between layers of different stiffnesses.
