Nature Communications (Jul 2019)

Quantitative characterization of 3D bioprinted structural elements under cell generated forces

  • Cameron D. Morley,
  • S. Tori Ellison,
  • Tapomoy Bhattacharjee,
  • Christopher S. O’Bryan,
  • Yifan Zhang,
  • Kourtney F. Smith,
  • Christopher P. Kabb,
  • Mathew Sebastian,
  • Ginger L. Moore,
  • Kyle D. Schulze,
  • Sean Niemi,
  • W. Gregory Sawyer,
  • David D. Tran,
  • Duane A. Mitchell,
  • Brent S. Sumerlin,
  • Catherine T. Flores,
  • Thomas E. Angelini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10919-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Advances in biofabrication technology enable 3D printed constructs to resemble real tissues, but it remains unclear how cell-generated forces deform these constructs. Here the authors investigate mechanical behaviours of 3D printed “microbeams” made from mixtures of living cells and extracellular matrix.