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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Utilising inkjet printed paraffin wax for cell patterning

applications

3
4
1*
1
Christopher Chi Wai Tse , Shea Shin Ng , Jonathan Stringer , Sheila MacNeil ,
5
2
John W. Haycock and Patrick J. Smith
1 Additive Manufacturing Centre, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TN, UK
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TN,
UK
3 Composite Systems Innovation Centre, PDRA (Inkjet Printing), University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South
Yorkshire S10 2TN, UK
4 Faculty of Engineering, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TN, UK
5 Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
S10 2TN, UK

Abstract: We describe a method to prepare patterned environments for eukaryotic cells by inkjet printing paraffin wax
onto a substrate. This technique bypasses the requirement to create a master mould, typically required with the use of
polydimethylsiloxane techniques and the printed structure could be immediately used to guide cell proliferation. In a
space of 2–3 hours, the desired pattern could be created with computer assisted design, printed and have cells seeded
onto the scaffold, which could reduce the cycle time of prototyping micropattern designs. Human dermal fibroblasts and
RN22 Schwann cells were seen to proliferate within the fabricated patterns and survive for more than 7 days. Addition-
ally, the wax constructs could be readily removed from the substrate at any stage after cell seeding with the cells con-
tinuing to proliferate. Thus, we report on a simple but novel approach for the controlled physical positioning of live
cells by wax inkjet printing.
Keywords: cell patterning, bioprinting, paraffin wax

*Correspondence to: Christopher Chi Wai Tse, Additive Manufacturing Centre, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South
Yorkshire S10 2TN, UK; Email: mtp11cct@sheffield.ac.uk

Received: August 18, 2015; Accepted: October 14, 2015; Published Online: October 30, 2015
Citation: Tse C W C, Ng S S, Stringer J, et al. 2016, Utilising inkjet printed paraffin wax for cell patterning applications. Interna-
tional Journal of Bioprinting, vol.2(1): 35–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJB.2016.01.001.

[6]
1. Introduction phology . Cell behaviour can be better elucidated if
R of appropriate environments to better understand the
there was a technique that allowed the rapid creation
esearch into cell patterning and spatial coor-
dination are growing fields, as new technolo-
dynamic mechanism that affects cell architecture, po-
gies enable researchers to accurately position
populations of cells and promote the design of bet- larity, morphology, survival and division within their
[3,7,8]
surrounding environments
. With much interdis-
ter biological systems [1,2] . Geometry and topology are ciplinary use of mechanical techniques being applied
important factors that affect anchorage-dependent in the further study of tissue engineering, much
cells [3–5] , as living cells actively investigate their sur- has been learnt recently about cell behaviour in a mi-
roundings, which can influence function and mor- croenvironment and the creation of microstructures,

Utilising inkjet printed paraffin wax for cell patterning applications. © 2016 Christopher Chi Wai Tse, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),
permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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