Summary
Published in Advanced Healthcare Materials (2020), this peer-reviewed study used 3D Petri Dish® micro-molds to form scaffold-free 3D microtissues. Full citation: Parfenov, Vladislav A., et al. Biofabrication of a Functional Tubular Construct from Tissue Spheroids Using Magnetoacoustic Levitational Directed Assembly
Biofabrication of a Functional Tubular Construct from Tissue Spheroids Using Magnetoacoustic Levitational Directed Assembly
Research Overview
Instead of building tissue on a scaffold, this study assembled it with fields. Combining intense magnetic and acoustic fields, the team performed levitational bioassembly of 3D constructs from tissue spheroids, using human bladder smooth muscle ‘myospheres’ as building blocks at low gadolinium concentrations in a 9.5 T magnetic field.
The levitationally assembled tubular smooth-muscle constructs were functional: they contracted when exposed to the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1. The work demonstrates scaffold-free ‘scaffield’ fabrication — spheroids as building blocks, physical fields as the mold.
Key Discoveries
- Magnetic-acoustic levitation assembled tubular constructs from smooth-muscle spheroids
- Low paramagnetic-agent concentration sufficed in a 9.5 T field
- Assembled constructs contracted in response to endothelin-1 — functional tissue
