Development and evaluation of tissue-specific bioinks for 3-D printing of meniscus**********

该项目将在专门从事3-D生物打印的加拿大生物技术公司AspectBiosSystems和西方大学的弗林实验室之间建立新的合作关系，以推动Aspect3-D打印(3DP)工程半月板组织的开发，作为治疗半月板损伤的创新个性化医学方法。以Flynn实验室在软组织工程策略设计方面的专业知识为基础，利用自然衍生生物材料的促再生功能，该Engage项目的主要重点将是开发新型组织专用生物墨水配方，该配方可根据半月板的独特组成进行调整，可用于3DP定制结构，以高保真地模拟人类半月板的复杂三维几何形状。该项目解决了对专门为这一应用设计的新生物墨水的迫切需求，这种墨水可以提供支持长期细胞存活和组织整合所需的生物线索，此外还能够打印具有明确定义的支架结构的细胞种子构建物。开发的生物墨水将使用Aspects专有的3-D打印平台进行测试，其支持细胞和促进再生的能力将在细胞培养模型中进行探索，该模型使用来自脂肪的成人干细胞作为潜在的治疗细胞来源。长期目标是将生物墨水技术转化为加拿大的经济利益，并应用组织工程半月板结构来推进更有效的疗法，以改善加拿大人的生活质量。该项目还将为弗林实验室的高素质人员提供独特的培训机会，帮助他们为未来在生物技术部门的职业发展培养宝贵的技能。

This project will establish a new collaboration between Aspect Biosystems, a Canadian biotechnology company specializing in 3-D bioprinting, and the Flynn lab at Western University, to advance Aspect's development of 3-D printed (3DP) engineered meniscus tissues as an innovative personalized medicine approach for the treatment of meniscal injuries. Building on the Flynn lab's expertise in the design of soft tissue-engineering strategies harnessing the pro-regenerative functionality of naturally-derived biomaterials, the main focus of this Engage project will be on the development of novel tissue-specific bioink formulations tuned to the unique composition of the meniscus that can be used to 3DP customized constructs that mimic the complex 3-D geometry of the human meniscus with high fidelity. This project addresses the critical need for new bioinks designed specifically for this application that can provide the biological cues required to support long-term cell survival and tissue integration in addition to enabling the printing of cell-seeded constructs with well-defined scaffold architectures. The developed bioinks will be tested using Aspect's proprietary 3-D printing platform, and their cell-supportive and pro-regenerative capacities will be probed in cell culture models using adult stem cells derived from fat as a potential therapeutic cell source. The long-term goals are to translate the bioink technologies to be of economic benefit to Canada and to apply the tissue-engineered meniscus constructs to advance towards more effective therapies to improve the quality of life of Canadians. This project will also provide unique training opportunities for highly qualified personnel in the Flynn lab, helping them to develop valuable skills for future careers in the biotechnology sector.**