Towards 3D-Bioprinting of Bionic Pancreas: Effect of Pressure on the Viability of Pancreatic Islets
Foundation for Research and Science Development, Warsaw, Poland
Meeting: 2019 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: C96
Keywords: Bioengineering
Session Information
Session Name: Poster Session C: Tissue Engineering & Technology
Session Type: Poster Session
Date: Monday, June 3, 2019
Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Location: Hall C & D
*Purpose: 3D bioprinting is the wave of the future in terms of constructing functional, human organs. 3D bioprinting of a bioactive tissue scaffold and Langerhans islets cause many biological and chemical difficulties. It is well known that islets are very susceptible to shear stress. It is essential to examine how the bioprinting process affects the viability of biological material containing islets. Pressure is also used for when islets are transplanted into alternative sites like subcutaneous or submucosa. Therefore, the aim of our study was to assess the viability of islets which were subjected to different pressure shear stress with the use a 3D bioprinter.
*Methods: BioX 3D printer was used in the experiment. A needle with 600 um inner diameter was used. 3% (w/v) alginate solution was prepared and then mixed with pancreatic islets in 3:1 ratio (gel:islets). We used rat and porcine pancreatic islets. Immediately after isolation the islets material was divided into 8 groups: a control without alginate, a control with alginate and 6 groups, which were subjected to a specific pressure in the bioprinter (15, 25, 30, 50, 75, 100 kPa). FDA / PI staining was performed to assess the viability of islets before and after bioprinting, depending on applied pressure. Results were calculated according to a generally available formula evaluating the islets living to dead ratio.
*Results: Pancreatic islets, independent of applied pressure, exhibited reduced viability compared to the control group. The highest percentage of live islets has been observed at 15kPa pressure whereas the lowest at 100 kPa. The viability of islets subjected to 30 kPa pressure was lower than that of the control group by about 15%. At 75 kPa pressure the level of loss was at 36%, and at 100 kPa it was 48% already. It has also been shown that rat islets are more resistant to bioprinting conditions than porcine.
*Conclusions: The most optimal pressure which should be used while bioprinting of pancreatic islets and islets transplantation is less then 30kPa.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Klak M, Kosowska K, Majdanska E, Dobrzanski T, Berman A, Kaczynski L, Kowalska P, Gomolka M, Wszola M. Towards 3D-Bioprinting of Bionic Pancreas: Effect of Pressure on the Viability of Pancreatic Islets [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2019; 19 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/towards-3d-bioprinting-of-bionic-pancreas-effect-of-pressure-on-the-viability-of-pancreatic-islets/. Accessed May 16, 2025.« Back to 2019 American Transplant Congress