Adult rat retinal ganglion cells and glia can be printed by piezoelectric inkjet printing

Barbara Lorber,Keith R Martin,Ian M Hutchings,Wen-Kai Hsiao

doi:10.1088/1758-5082/6/1/015001

Barbara Lorber, Keith R Martin + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5082/6/1/015001

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Journal: Biofabrication	Publication Date: Dec 17, 2013
Citations: 185	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital

Abstract

We have investigated whether inkjet printing technology can be extended to print cells of the adult rat central nervous system (CNS), retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and glia, and the effects on survival and growth of these cells in culture, which is an important step in the development of tissue grafts for regenerative medicine, and may aid in the cure of blindness. We observed that RGC and glia can be successfully printed using a piezoelectric printer. Whilst inkjet printing reduced the cell population due to sedimentation within the printing system, imaging of the printhead nozzle, which is the area where the cells experience the greatest shear stress and rate, confirmed that there was no evidence of destruction or even significant distortion of the cells during jet ejection and drop formation. Importantly, the viability of the cells was not affected by the printing process. When we cultured the same number of printed and non-printed RGC/glial cells, there was no significant difference in cell survival and RGC neurite outgrowth. In addition, use of a glial substrate significantly increased RGC neurite outgrowth, and this effect was retained when the cells had been printed. In conclusion, printing of RGC and glia using a piezoelectric printhead does not adversely affect viability and survival/growth of the cells in culture. Importantly, printed glial cells retain their growth-promoting properties when used as a substrate, opening new avenues for printed CNS grafts in regenerative medicine.

Highlights

Inkjet printing of cells is an emerging technology to create cell-based structures essential in many regenerative medicine applications
We have investigated whether inkjet printing technology can be extended to print cells of the adult rat central nervous system (CNS), retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and glia, and the effects on survival and growth of these cells in culture, which is an important step in the development of tissue grafts for regenerative medicine, and may aid in the cure of blindness
We are not aware of any studies where inkjet technology has been used successfully to print viable cells derived from the eye, or any other part of the mature adult central nervous system (CNS), which is an important step in the development of tissue grafts for regenerative medicine, and may aid in the cure of blindness

Summary

Introduction

Inkjet printing of cells is an emerging technology to create cell-based structures essential in many regenerative medicine applications. In most inkjet printers the mechanical impulse that ejects the liquid drops is provided either by the expansion of a thermally-generated vapour bubble (thermal inkjet) or by the movement of a piezoelectric ceramic element (piezoelectric inkjet). Both methods have been shown to be useable for printing live cells. Several studies have shown that the heat and mechanical stress generated in thermal inkjet printheads only minimally affects viability of several cell types including cell lines, hamster ovary cells, muscle and stem cells [1,2,3]. In contrast to embryonic cells, adult neuronal cells of the CNS have limited ability to survive and regenerate [5] and we hypothesized that they might be more prone to be affected by the printing process, in particular using a piezoelectric printhead

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Conclusion