One patient’s stem cells functioned as “ink” to 3D print an ear, which was then successfully transplanted. It happened in March, 3DBio Therapeutics, an American biotech company that is testing its technology on eleven other patients, announced. For now, no details of the procedure have been provided and more will be known only at the end of the clinical trial.
For the first time, an ear 3D printed with human cells was transplanted
03 June 2022
The bioprinting technique
However, it is not the first time that a cartilage produced with bioprinting is then transplanted. “It had already happened a few years ago in China – he explains Lorenzo Moroni, Professor of Biofrabbrication of Regenerative Medicine at the University of Maastricht – Ear cartilage is one of the simplest to reproduce. Chinese scientists had transplanted it to patients with microtia, the same congenital malformation as the American patient. Unfortunately, after a few years the Chinese subjects had ear problems, the tissue started to degenerate again “.
How does it work
Bioprinting uses cells or proteins, placed in a volume in an extremely precise way to create a tissue identical to that of the subject under therapy. “The stem cells are enclosed in microballs or incorporated in a gel that acts as a carrier – continues Moroni – It can be a collagen gel or gelatin or hyaluronic acid gel. It is an innovative technique, but there are not many clinical studies yet. . It is more expensive than the others and it has not yet been established whether the final product has more functionality than regenerated tissue. “
The alternative of traditional printing
Instead of bioprinting, traditional 3D printing can be used: “The aim is to create, with acellular materials, three-dimensional houses where cells can be housed and can grow. In this way we work a lot on skeletal tissues, on cartilage. joints and even blood vessels – lists the expert – In our laboratory we have printed a portion of blood vessel for patients undergoing dialysis. Often in these people the blood sampling becomes complicated, precisely because of the dialysis machinery, and so a brand new blood vessel may be useful. It is currently undergoing clinical trials. “
Kidneys and thyroid as models
Moroni is also working on the bioprinting of whole organs, such as the kidneys and the thyroid: “We create models of these organs, using their tissue, especially for pharmaceutical companies that want to test new compounds and molecules for future drugs”.
3D organs are still far away
Regenerative medicine has made great strides. Pioneers in Italy are the researchers of the Stefano Ferrari Center for Regenerative Medicine of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. They were the ones who cultivated corneal tissue in vitro starting from the patient’s stem cells and they were the ones who created Holoclar, the first drug in the world based on stem cells capable of repairing the cornea.
Human skin and other tissues are already grown in the laboratory, but today they are still unable to print an organ and implant it. “There are still 20 years to go – Moroni predicts – even if almost every day there are new discoveries that bode well”.