Hybrid three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting of retina equivalent for ocular research

¹ Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue Singapore 639798

² National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 308433

IJB 2017, 3(2), 138–146; https://doi.org/10.18063/IJB.2017.02.008

© Invalid date by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

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Abstract

In this article, a hybrid retina construct was created via three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology. The construct was composed of a PCL ultrathin membrane, ARPE-19 cell monolayer and Y79 cell-laden alginate/pluronic bioink. 3D bioprinting technology was applied herein to deliver the ARPE-19 cells and Y79 cell-laden bioink to ensure homogeneous ARPE-19 cell seeding; subsequently, two distinctive Y79 cell-seeding patterns were bioprinted on top of the ARPE-19 cell monolayer. The bioprinted ARPE-19 cells were evaluated by prestoblue assay, F-actin, and hematoxylin/eosin (HE) staining, and then the cells were observed under laser scanning and invert microscopy for 14 days. The Y79 cells in alginate/pluronic bioink after bioprinting had been closely monitored for 7 days. Live/dead assay and scanning electrical microscopy (SEM) were employed to investigate Y79 cell viability and morphology. Both the ARPE-19 and Y79 cells were in excellent condition, and the successfully bioprinted retina model could be utilized in drug delivery, disease mechanism and treatment method discoveries.

Keywords

retina

bioprinting

age-related macular degeneration

tissue engineering

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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing