AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026270284
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Fabrication of prevascularized co-culture spheroids and their 3D bioprinting application

Daniel S. Alt1§ ,  Victoria Ivy Petsinger1 ,  Oju Jeon2 ,  Aixiang Ding2 ,  Eben Alsberg1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9*
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1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio , United States of America
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois , United States of America
3 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio , United States of America
4 National Center for Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio , United States of America
5 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois , United States of America
6 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois , United States of America
7 Department of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois , United States of America
8 Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois , United States of America
9 Institute for Functional and Regenerative Materials, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois , United States of America
Received: 1 July 2026 | Revised: 27 August 2026 | Accepted: 2 September 2026 | Published online: 7 September 2026
© 2026 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/ )
Abstract

While the field of tissue engineering holds great promise to address the critical shortage of tissues/organs for transplantation, a key challenge that remains is vascularizing large constructs. Presented herein is a strategy to develop a prevascular network within engineered tissues to facilitate early anastomosis with host vasculature and perfusion. A co-culture system was established, using endothelial cells and supporting mesenchymal stem cells to generate aggregates of cells containing a network of prevascular cord and plexus-like structures reminiscent of embryonic vasculogenesis. Aggregates comprised of 50,000 cells were 537 µm in diameter, just beyond the limit of oxygen diffusion and thus appropriate for a vascularization study. Fibroblast growth factor 2 was then shown to be a sufficient media supplement to enhance early vasculogenesis within the first week. A bioink of these prevascular aggregates in fibrinogen was then 3D printed into a thrombin-containing hydrogel slurry acting as a temporary support, resulting in fibrin-encapsulated prevascular aggregates. These prevascular structures were shown to persist for 7 days of tissue culture. A minimum pre-printing culture duration of 7 days was demonstrated to maintain prevascular structures post-printing. This system allows for the precise spatial control of prevascularized constructs that may ultimately enhance microvascularization upon transplantation in vivo.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Tissue engineering
Prevascularization
Vasculogenesis
Aggregates
Bioink
Slurry
3D printing
Funding
The study was funded by the Medical Scientist Training Program of Case Western Reserve University (TL1RR024991), the Musculoskeletal Training Grant of the Department of Orthopaedics of Case Western Reserve University (T32AR007505), and the National Institutes of Health (R01AR063194 and R01EB023907).
Conflict of interest
Eben Alsberg is an Editorial Board Member of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing