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International Journal of Bioprinting In vitro 3D pancreatic acinar unit

Figure 4. Distribution of stromal cells in 3D MEW scaffolds. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images at different magnifications showing the HFF1
colonization within the MEW constructs. Scale bars: 500 µm (i, iv, vii), 100 µm (ii, v, viii), and 20 µm (iii, vi, ix).

failed to reproduce the acino-ductal morphology 24,54 or layer techniques (e.g., fused deposition modeling), where
incorporate the stromal components. 25,56 In this work, the polymer extrusion is discontinuous and the ambient
we designed and fabricated a 3D model, a layer-by- parameters (e.g., humidity and ambient temperature) poorly
layer PCL scaffold, that recapitulates the morphology affect the jet stability and the filament deposition, 30,58,59 the
and composition of the exocrine pancreatic functional work described in this paper goes beyond the state of the
unit. In particular, we used MEW to obtain microscale art in the MEW field 28,31 and can be considered a pioneer
constructs, which support cells’ growth and provide study creating such a complex geometry of the gland (at a
physiological stimuli, since the MEW fibers are similar millimeter scale) without the need of any supports and/or
in size to natural ECM fibers that have diameters ranging cylindrical rotary mandrels. Thus, our approach bypasses
from 1 to 20 µm (Figure 2). the technical difficulties in separating the printed scaffolds
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from the supports and permits to fabricate morphologies
Although the accuracy in obtaining 3D complex other than mandrels shape and dimensions. 60-65 It has
geometries is lower in MEW compared with other layer-by- recently been shown that complex tubular structures can

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 421 doi: 10.36922/ijb.1975