近日，美国卡内基梅隆大学教授A. W. Feinberg及其研究小组研制了胶原蛋白的三维生物打印重建人类心脏组成成分。 相关论文于2019年8月2日发表在《科学》杂志上。

该课题组人员提出了一种三维生物打印胶原蛋白的方法，研究者利用一种自由形态，可逆嵌入的水凝胶（FRESH），从毛细血管到整个器官，在各种尺度上打造人类心脏的组成部分。研究者通过控制pH驱动的凝胶，能够提供20微米的细丝分辨率，获得能够快速进行细胞浸润和微血管形成的多孔微观结构，其机械强度能够制作和灌注多尺度脉管系统与三叶瓣膜。研究团队发现FRESH 3D生物打印的心脏能够精确地再现患者特异性的解剖结构（通过微型计算机断层扫描确定）。通过印有人类心肌细胞的心室，显示出了同步收缩、定向动作电位传播，以及收缩峰值期间壁厚增加14%。

据了解，胶原蛋白是人体内细胞外基质的主要成分。研究表明，制造出能够复制组织和器官的结构和功能的胶原蛋白支架，具有很大的挑战性。

附：英文原文

Title: 3D bioprinting of collagen to rebuild components of the human heart

Author: A. Lee, A. R. Hudson, D. J. Shiwarski, J. W. Tashman, T. J. Hinton, S. Yerneni, J. M. Bliley, P. G. Campbell, A. W. Feinberg

Issue&Volume: Vol 365 Issue 6452

Abstract: Collagen is the primary component of the extracellular matrix in the human body. It has proved challenging to fabricate collagen scaffolds capable of replicating the structure and function of tissues and organs. We present a method to 3D-bioprint collagen using freeform reversible embedding of suspended hydrogels (FRESH) to engineer components of the human heart at various scales, from capillaries to the full organ. Control of pH-driven gelation provides 20-micrometer filament resolution, a porous microstructure that enables rapid cellular infiltration and microvascularization, and mechanical strength for fabrication and perfusion of multiscale vasculature and tri-leaflet valves. We found that FRESH 3D-bioprinted hearts accurately reproduce patient-specific anatomical structure as determined by micro–computed tomography. Cardiac ventricles printed with human cardiomyocytes showed synchronized contractions, directional action potential propagation, and wall thickening up to 14% during peak systole.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aav9051

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6452/482