Using Bioprinting to Achieve Enhanced Persistence, Consistency in Cell Loading across Scaffolds, and Long-Term Sustained Release of Cells from Scaffolds (2023)

Undergraduate: Ike Keku

Faculty Advisor: Shawn Hingtgen
Department: The Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics

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Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive, incurable brain cancer with a median survival term of 15 months. Many cancer cells remain in the brain even after surgical removal of the main tumor mass. tNSCs (trans-differentiated neural stem cells) have the unique ability to sense and migrate towards tumor cells. We can turn these normal NSCs into targeted drug carriers that search for and destroy GBM cells remaining in the brain after tumor removal. For our tNSCs to be effective, we need to improve their long-term survival. We hypothesize that by using the bio-printing strategy, in which cells are combined with the resin prior to 3D printing, we will achieve enhanced persistence, consistency in cell loading across scaffolds, and long-term sustained release of cells from the scaffold. This was done by designing scaffolds using Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP), a photochemical process that converts liquid plastic resin into solid parts using UV light. Various cylindrical scaffolds were designed in CAD within the constraints of the murine resection cavity (d = 3mm, h = 2mm) that exhibit different surface areas. The degradation rates of these CLIP-printed GelMA scaffolds were tested with different CAD designs. The overall idea is to see if we can use the CAD design to control the release of embedded cells over time. A slower degradation rate will lead to more effective treatment of GBM and an increased life expectancy for GBM patients.

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