Researchers at the Oxford Martin School have developed a method of 3D printing cells that mimic the brain’s architecture. The research, published Wednesday 4 October, is the first to introduce the technique. Although nearly 70 million people are affected by brain injuries annually, existing treatments have only a limited effect.
Published in Nature Communications, the method involves using the patient’s stem cells as a “bioink” to print a structure that can become neural tissue in the brain. When tested on mice brain slices, the tissue was able to integrate and function with the host cells. The use of a patient’s stem cells removes the risk of rejection from the body. It also allows for greater practical use as cells can be harvested easily.
The aim of research going forward is to enhance the printing process to better mimic human brain structures. Beyond injuries, this could aid drug evaluation and further understanding of brain development and cognition. Senior author Dr Linna Zhou said: “Our droplet printing technique provides a means to engineer living 3D tissues with desired architectures, which brings us closer to the creation of personalised implantation treatments for brain injury.”
The technique uses human induced pluripotent stem cells. These cells are typically taken from blood or skin and are reprogrammed to be used as any type of cell. The immature cells are then differentiated into two variations, each used to print one layer of the tissue.
The Oxford Martin Programme on 3D Printing for Brain Repair aim to create low-cost medical technology to address the expanding problem of brain injury. Globally, 5.5 million people suffer a severe traumatic brain injury every year. Research is divided over the effects of traumatic brain injuries, with some evidence pointing to an increased risk of cognitive decline as a result.
Senior author Professor Zoltán Molnár said: “It would be naïve to think that we can recreate the entire cellular progression in the laboratory. Nonetheless, our 3D printing project demonstrates substantial progress in controlling the fates and arrangements of human iPSCs [stem cells] to form the basic functional units of the cerebral cortex.”
