Study Suggests Benefits of 3D Bioprinting In Plant Cell Research

A recent study from North Carolina State University experimented using 3D bioprinting to produce plant cells in order to assess the use of the method in biological research. They produced Arabidopsis- (thale cress; often used in genetic research) and soybean cells. Their 3D-printed cells had adequate viability and went on to produce microcalli (groups of plant tissue), indicating that they were successful productions. These findings suggest that 3D bioprinting could be at least as effective as traditional methods for plant cell reproduction.

Methods

Firstly, let’s look at the method used to conduct the experiment: pneumatic extrusion. This is a type of 3D bioprinting in which the researcher utilizes air pressure to force out the biological material through a nozzle. This printed both the bioink and the support structures, likened to scaffolding. For the latter, they tested two different types- agarose and sodium alginate, to assess which one proved more effective. The soy bean cells showed good viability of almost 49% two weeks after creation, which indicates that bioprinting could produce cells with equal viability to traditional manual pipetting. After 5 days, viability within the 3D bioprinted structure was almost 25% for the Arabidopsis cells with agarose ‘scaffolding’.

The team used a bioprinting method called pneumatic extrusion or dispension – C. Image credit: Advanced Nanobiomed Research on ResearchGate

For the viable cells, researchers were able to assess production of microcalli (groups of unorganized parenchyma cells, a type of plant cell). The cell cycle reentry coincided with the induction of core cell cycle genes and genes related to cell regeneration. Essentially, they caused the bioprinted cells to restart their cell cycles and reproduce. They found that after 14 days, on average 90% of bioprinted constructs formed 5-6 microcalli. This indicates that 3D bioprinted cells have the potential to undergo cell division and behave as cells produced by traditional methods.