Matrix-assisted pulsed laser methods for biofabrication
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troduction to biofabrication The ability to control the structure through placement of smaller individual sub-units (processing) allows for materials to be engineered with selected properties. Although, conventionally, this premise has been applied to inorganic materials, wherein the structure is built up through homogeneous layers with discrete interfaces, within the past 20 years, a quantum jump has been made into engineering biological materials in the new field of biofabrication.1 As the behavior and properties of mammalian cells are defined by their surrounding microenvironment, biofabrication focuses primarily on the creation of idealized constructs—defined as the reproducible assembly of a biomaterial structure—in vitro that mimic the in vivo environment/design. Idealized constructs and engineered cell cultures will allow a better understanding of cellular communication mechanics, thereby advancing stem cell, cancer, and tissue engineering research2–4 (Figure 1). Many of today’s state-of-the-art biofabrication techniques still utilize conventional biomaterials; biodegradable poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA)5 is widely used in
tissue engineering scaffolds, and gelatin, derived from denatured collagen, is employed extensively for timed drug delivery.6 Novel processing of these biomaterials using techniques such as inkjet printing,7–9 dip-pen nanolithography,10,11 vacuum deposition, and laser direct-writing allow for the creation of precise geometries over large areas. Such techniques may even be extended to create three-dimensional scaffolds12 to more closely mimic the in vivo environment. Idealized construct fabrication can benefit tremendously from incorporation of pluripotent stem cells into engineered environments. Given their unlimited growth potential and undifferentiated state, stem cells are versatile and robust tools that are the focus of much of the current research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.13,14 Maintenance of stem cell pluripotency (i.e., the ability to differentiate into any cell type) is dependent on the stem cell niche, or local microenvironment, which consists of extracellular matrix, neighboring cells (both stem and differentiated cells), and soluble factors (i.e., hormones, proteins, nutrients).15,16 Thus, when utilizing
B.C. Riggs, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; [email protected] A.D. Dias, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; [email protected] N.R. Schiele, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; [email protected] R. Cristescu, Lasers Department, Laser-Surface-Plasma Interactions Laboratory, Romania Y. Huang, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University; [email protected] D.T. Corr, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute D.B. Chrisey, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2011.276
© 2011 Materials Research Society
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 36 • DECEMBER 2011 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
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MATRIX-ASSISTED PULSED LASER METHODS FOR BIOFABRICATION
Figure 1. Concept diagram of laser direct-write techniques. ECM, extracellular matrix.
complex patterns are created10
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