Page 406 - IJB-10-2

International

Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Modeling inflammatory response using 3D

bioprinting of polarized macrophages

Nimal Raveendran, Kanchan Vaswani, Pingping Han, Saraswat Basu,
Corey S. Moran, and Sašo Ivanovski*

Centre for Orofacial Regeneration, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, The School of Dentistry,
The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia

Abstract

The field of drug discovery has seen the rise of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting as a
promising tool for disease modeling. The focus to date has been on tissue engineering
and cancer modeling, although the application of 3D-bioprinted models for the
study of inflammation using macrophages is still in its infancy. This study explores the
potential of bioprinting technology in the development of a 3D macrophage model
and macrophage response to inflammatory stimuli using this platform. To this end,
we established a 3D-bioprinted macrophage model and assessed the inflammatory
and anti-inflammatory response to bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS)
and the drug ibuprofen (Ibu), respectively. Optimal conditions for macrophage
differentiation of the human monocytic cell line, THP-1, in the 3D environment were
studied, as well as the effect of the 3D microenvironment on macrophage polarization.
Viability of THP-1 cells following the 3D bioprinting process was demonstrated
and maintained, allowing successful macrophage differentiation of the cells. The
*Corresponding author: developed 3D-bioprinted macrophage model exhibited elevated expression of
Saso Ivanovski
(s.ivanovski@uq.edu.au) selected pro-inflammatory gene and protein markers following exposure to LPS,
consistent with polarization from M0 to M1 phenotype. Additionally, the model was
Citation: Raveendran N, Vaswani responsive to the anti-inflammatory properties of Ibu, demonstrating its potential
K, Han P, Basu S, Moran CS,
Ivanovski S. Modeling inflammatory in drug screening and discovery. The current study highlights the potential of
response using 3D bioprinting bioprinting in the investigation of inflammatory cell response and behavior in a 3D
of polarized macrophages. Int J environment ex vivo, opening new avenues for research in modeling inflammatory
Bioprint. 2024;10(2):2116.
doi: 10.36922/ijb.2116 responses to various stimuli.
Received: October 26, 2023
Accepted: December 20, 2023 Keywords: Macrophages; 3D culture; 3D bioprinting; Drug discovery
Published Online: February 21, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 1. Introduction
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, The macrophage is an important immune cell that plays a key role in host defense. Elie
provided the original work is Metchnikoff, awarded the Nobel Prize in 1908 for his work on phagocytosis, proposed
properly cited. that the key to immunity was to “stimulate the phagocytes.” Since then, immunologists
1,2
Publisher’s Note: AccScience have been studying macrophages and their role in the immune system. Inflammatory
Publishing remains neutral with and immune complications are an indicator of an impaired immune system. Researchers
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional can use models of inflammatory response to study disease progression and the efficacy
affiliations. of anti-inflammatory drugs and other interventions.

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 398 doi: 10.36922/ijb.2116