Group description

The ART BioPrint (www.artbioprint.fr) is an Inserm structure embedded in a research unit specialized in Tissue Engineering (BioTis, Inserm U1026, Université de Bordeaux), and under the governance of Prof. Jean-Christophe Fricain. Inaugurated in 2017, its multidisciplinary team comprises 7 engineers, and 2 PhD students.

The main objectives of this ART are to 1) to develop a training and biofabrication structure by 3D printing at the disposal of Inserm laboratories at the national level and to make it a reference centre in 3D bioprinting, 2) to accelerate the creation of tissue models for research and for applications in regenerative medicine, 3) to deploy 3D bioprinting technologies at the service of fundamental research and the pharmaceutical industry, 4) to create added value for the technological developments and results obtained, by the creation of patents and of publications.

The ART BioPrint is organized in 4 major poles of scientific activity:

• a cell production pole: e.g. culture of primary cells of human/murin origin, cell lines, iPSCs and the generation of reporter cells for all ongoing projects.
• a cluster of bioink production, considering photopolymerizable extracellular matrix-derived bioinks (e.g. collagen-, hyaluronic acid-, laminin-derived), designed to be optically transparent, tailored for optimal bioprinting and rheological properties, and customized to enable cell maturation (e.g. bioinks formulated to stimulate angiogenesis and neurogenesis, or designed for liver tissue engineering, etc)..
• A cluster of bioprinters sustained by dedicated engineers on laser assisted-bioprinting, microextrusion, inkjet and stereolithography bioprinting. The following bioprinters are available on site: - Modular platforms (3DDiscovery, RegenHU and a BioX, Cellink), equipped with several extrusion (50-100μm resolution depending on the printing conditions) and inkjet (microdrop) (50μm resolution and cell viability> 95%) printing heads. These platforms can print cell structures from several μm to cm in scale, within multiwell culture plates.
• Three laser-assisted printing platforms (Novalase, Modulab and NGBR, Poietis) that can print cells with high accuracy (up to 20μm resolution) and speed (1-10 kHz), while maintaining high cell viability (> 95%).
• A stereolithography bioprinter (LUMEN X+, DLP, Cellink) (50μm pixel resolution), which can quickly print cell-laden scaffolds and also allows for the rapid production of custom-designed microfluidic channels. Also, standard 3D printing machines and software are available.
• Biological evaluation of 3D bioprinted models (e.g. perfused tissues, organoids/spheroids, and cancer models) is performed using imagery systems (timelapse, confocal), histological, molecular biology, and biochemistry analysis.

This research structure is active in the training and technological deployment of the bioprinting technology at the French and European level. Currently more than 18 projects are ongoing, focusing on the development of cancer models (breast, glioblastoma, pancreas), on several pathological models, for regenerative medicine applications and on tools and technologies, at the national and European level.