NSF/FDA/SIR: Evaluating cellular integrity as a function of bioprinter nozzle geometry

“生物打印”是一种将单个活细胞组装成皮肤或肌肉等组织的方法，很像用金属或塑料进行3D打印来形成机械部件。这种方法有望为药物测试的组织替代物或组织模型的制造带来革命性的变化。生物打印的一个局限性是单个细胞是脆弱的，通过一个小开口从称为毛细管的狭窄管中喷射可能会损坏细胞。该项目建议根据打印毛细管的特性来测量细胞膜、内部骨架和DNA的损伤。申请者提议解决“生物打印”中的一个重要问题，这就像3D打印一样，将细胞组装成皮肤或肌肉等组织。问题是，打印头中狭窄毛细管中的剪切力可能会损坏细胞核中的细胞膜、细胞骨架和DNA；减缓毛细管中的液体流动以降低剪切力可能会导致无法接受的打印速度降低。申请者建议确定剪切时间和毛细血管特性变化对细胞损伤的影响。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

"Bioprinting" is an approach to assemble individual living cells to form tissue like skin or muscle, much like 3-D printing with metal or plastic to form machine parts. This method promises to revolutionize fabrication of tissue replacements or tissue models for drug testing. A limitation of bioprinting is that individual cells are fragile and may be damaged by being squirted through a narrow tube called a capillary through a small opening. The project proposes to measure damage to the cell membrane, internal skeleton, and DNA depending on the properties of the printing capillary. The applicants propose to address an important issue in "bioprinting", which is like 3D printing to assemble cells into tissue like skin or muscle. The issue is that the shear forces in the narrow capillary in the print head can damage the cell membrane, cytoskeleton, and DNA in the nucleus; slowing the liquid flow in the capillary to reduce the shear force may result in an unacceptable reduction in print speed. The applicants propose to determine the effects of shear time and changes in capillary properties on the cell damage.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.