Illuminating interactions in light-based bioprinting
Illuminating interactions in light-based bioprinting lead image
Bioprinting techniques are quickly evolving tools used to fabricate artificial 3D tissues that mimic their biological counterparts, and light-based bioprinting is one such technique that utilizes light to improve precision and resolution. In this review, Nieto et al. summarize the most commonly used light-based bioprinting techniques and the interactions of light with cells and polymers.
“Understanding the interactions of light cells and light polymers are crucial parameters to consider in light-based bioprinting,” said author Daniel Nieto.
The authors summarize the most widely used light-based bioprinting techniques that are based on one-photon polymerization, including laser-based stereolithography (SLA), mask-based SLA, Digital Light Projection (DLP); as well as two-photon polymerization. Focusing on high resolution structures, they also considered the behavior of light during these bioprinting techniques and provided an overview on how light interacts with the cells and polymers of fabricated materials.
Additionally, the authors discussed the biophysical mechanisms behind light-cell and light-polymer interactions. These mechanisms can determine the functionality of bioprinted cells by affecting the survival, DNA damage, and long-term viability of bioprinted cells. They can also influence the phenotype maintenance of cells in bioprinted structures. They explain what parameters of light must be controlled, such as power, wavelength, and exposure time, in order to maintain high cell viability.
“This combination of concepts about polymer and cell interactions with light during bioprinting tissues provides a valuable tool that will aid in the design of more predictable tissue-like structures,” Nieto said.
Source: “Fundamentals of light-cell/polymer interactions in photocrosslinking based bioprinting,” by Daniel Nieto, Juan Antonio Marchal Corrales, Alberto Jorge de Mora, and Lorenzo Moroni, APL Bioengineering (2020). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0022693 .
