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As engineered tissues progress toward therapeutically relevant length scales and cell densities, it is critical to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the tissue volume via perfusion through vascular networks. Furthermore, seeding of endothelial cells within these networks can recapitulate the barrier function and vascular physiology of native blood vessels. In this protocol, we describe how to fabricate and assemble customizable open-source tissue perfusion chambers and catheterize tissue constructs inside them. Human endothelial cells are seeded along the lumenal surfaces of the tissue constructs, which are subsequently connected to fluid pumping equipment. The protocol is agnostic with respect to biofabrication methodology as well as cell and material composition, and thus can enable a wide variety of experimental designs. It takes ~14 h over the course of 3 d to prepare perfusion chambers and begin a perfusion experiment. We envision that this protocol will facilitate the adoption and standardization of perfusion tissue culture methods across the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering. Customizable tissue perfusion chambers facilitate seeding and perfusion culture of human endothelial cells within vascularized tissue constructs.

To examine the impact of ultrasound transduction on endothelial barrier function, a 3D printable perfused hydrogel vascular model was developed to assess endothelial permeability and enable live imaging of cell–cell junctions.

Sacrificial templates for patterning perfusable vascular networks in engineered tissues have been constrained in architectural complexity, owing to the limitations of extrusion-based 3D printing techniques. Here, we show that cell-laden hydrogels can be patterned with algorithmically generated dendritic vessel networks and other complex hierarchical networks by using sacrificial templates made from laser-sintered carbohydrate powders. We quantified and modulated gradients of cell proliferation and cell metabolism emerging in response to fluid convection through these networks and to diffusion of oxygen and metabolites out of them. We also show scalable strategies for the fabrication, perfusion culture and volumetric analysis of large tissue-like constructs with complex and heterogeneous internal vascular architectures. Perfusable dendritic networks in cell-laden hydrogels may help sustain thick and densely cellularized engineered tissues, and assist interrogations of the interplay between mass transport and tissue function. Cell-laden hydrogels can be patterned with algorithmically generated sacrificial dendritic vessel networks made of laser-sintered carbohydrate powders.

Recently developed biofabrication technologies are enabling the production of three-dimensional engineered tissues containing vascular networks which can deliver oxygen and nutrients across large tissue volumes. Tissues at this scale show promise for eventual regenerative medicine applications; however, the implantation and integration of these constructs in vivo remains poorly studied. Here, we introduce a surgical model for implantation and direct in-line vascular connection of 3D printed hydrogels in a porcine arteriovenous shunt configuration. Utilizing perfusable poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels fabricated through projection stereolithography, we first optimized the implantation procedure in deceased piglets. Subsequently, we utilized the arteriovenous shunt model to evaluate blood flow through implanted PEGDA hydrogels in non-survivable studies. Connections between the host femoral artery and vein were robust and the patterned vascular channels withstood arterial pressure, permitting blood flow for 6 h. Our study demonstrates rapid prototyping of a biocompatible and perfusable hydrogel that can be implanted in vivo as a porcine arteriovenous shunt, suggesting a viable surgical approach for in-line implantation of bioprinted tissues, along with design considerations for future in vivo studies. We further envision that this surgical model may be broadly applicable for assessing whether biomaterials optimized for 3D printing and cell function can also withstand vascular cannulation and arterial blood pressure. This provides a crucial step toward generated transplantable engineered organs, demonstrating successful implantation of engineered tissues within host vasculature.

Peripheral nerve regeneration is a complex problem that, despite many advancements and innovations, still has sub-optimal outcomes. Compared to biologically derived acellular nerve grafts and autografts, completely synthetic nerve guidance conduits (NGC), which allow for precise engineering of their properties, are promising but still far from optimal. We have developed an almost entirely synthetic NGC that allows control of soluble growth factor delivery kinetics, cell-initiated degradability and cell attachment. We have focused on the spatial patterning of glial-cell derived human neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which promotes motor axon extension. The base scaffolds consisted of heparin-containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) microspheres. The modular microsphere format greatly simplifies the formation of concentration gradients of reversibly bound GDNF. To facilitate axon extension, we engineered the microspheres with tunable plasmin degradability. 'Click' cross-linking chemistries were also added to allow scaffold formation without risk of covalently coupling the growth factor to the scaffold. Cell adhesion was promoted by covalently bound laminin. GDNF that was released from these microspheres was confirmed to retain its activity. Graded scaffolds were formed inside silicone conduits using 3D-printed holders. The fully formed NGC's contained plasmin-degradable PEG/heparin scaffolds that developed linear gradients in reversibly bound GDNF. The NGC's were implanted into rats with severed sciatic nerves to confirm in vivo degradability and lack of a major foreign body response. The NGC's also promoted robust axonal regeneration into the conduit.

Fabrication of vascular networks within engineered tissue remains one of the greatest challenges facing the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering. Historically, the structural complexity of vascular networks has limited their fabrication in tissues engineered in vitro. Recently, however, key advances have been made in constructing fluidic networks within biomaterials, suggesting a strategy for fabricating the architecture of the vasculature. These techniques build on emerging technologies within the microfluidics community as well as on 3D printing. The freeform fabrication capabilities of 3D printing are allowing investigators to fabricate fluidic networks with complex architecture inside biomaterial matrices. In this review, we examine the most exciting 3D printing-based techniques in this area. We also discuss opportunities for using these techniques to address open questions in vascular biology and biophysics, as well as for engineering therapeutic tissue substitutes in vitro.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing process that uses a laser to fuse powdered starting materials into solid 3D structures. Despite the potential for fabrication of complex, high-resolution structures with SLS using diverse starting materials (including biomaterials), prohibitive costs of commercial SLS systems have hindered the wide adoption of this technology in the scientific community. Here, we developed a low-cost, open-source SLS system (OpenSLS) and demonstrated its capacity to fabricate structures in nylon with sub-millimeter features and overhanging regions. Subsequently, we demonstrated fabrication of polycaprolactone (PCL) into macroporous structures such as a diamond lattice. Widespread interest in using PCL for bone tissue engineering suggests that PCL lattices are relevant model scaffold geometries for engineering bone. SLS of materials with large powder grain size (~500 μm) leads to part surfaces with high roughness, so we further introduced a simple vapor-smoothing technique to reduce the surface roughness of sintered PCL structures which further improves their elastic modulus and yield stress. Vapor-smoothed PCL can also be used for sacrificial templating of perfusable fluidic networks within orthogonal materials such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) silicone. Finally, we demonstrated that human mesenchymal stem cells were able to adhere, survive, and differentiate down an osteogenic lineage on sintered and smoothed PCL surfaces, suggesting that OpenSLS has the potential to produce PCL scaffolds useful for cell studies. OpenSLS provides the scientific community with an accessible platform for the study of laser sintering and the fabrication of complex geometries in diverse materials.