Osteoimmunomodulatory potential of 3D printed submicron patterns assessed in a direct co-culture model

Modulation of the immune response following the implantation of biomaterials can have beneficial effects on bone regeneration. This involves complex interactions between the inflammatory and osteogenic cells. Therefore, the study of cell-cell interactions using direct co-culture models integrated with biomaterials is of great interest. This...

Fluidic Force Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy Unveil New Insights into the Interactions of Preosteoblasts with 3D-Printed Submicron Patterns

Physical patterns represent potential surface cues for promoting osteogenic differentiation of stem cells and improving osseointegration of orthopedic implants. Understanding the early cell–surface interactions and their effects on late cellular functions is essential for a rational design of such topographies, yet still elusive. In this work...

Bioprinting of a Zonal-Specific Cell Density Scaffold: A Biomimetic Approach for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

The treatment of articular cartilage defects remains a significant clinical challenge. This is partially due to current tissue engineering strategies failing to recapitulate native organization. Articular cartilage is a graded tissue with three layers exhibiting different cell densities: the superficial zone having the highest density and the...

3D-Printed Submicron Patterns Reveal the Interrelation between Cell Adhesion, Cell Mechanics, and Osteogenesis

The surface topography of implantable devices is of crucial importance for guiding the cascade of events that starts from the initial contact of the cells with the surface and continues until the complete integration of the device in its immediate environment. There is, however, limited quantitative information available regarding the...

Curvature Induced by Deflection in Thick Meta-Plates

The design of advanced functional devices often requires the use of intrinsically curved geometries that belong to the realm of non-Euclidean geometry and remain a challenge for traditional engineering approaches. Here, it is shown how the simple deflection of thick meta-plates based on hexagonal cellular mesostructures can be used to achieve...

3D printed submicron patterns orchestrate the response of macrophages

The surface topography of engineered extracellular matrices is one of the most important physical cues regulating the phenotypic polarization of macrophages. However, not much is known about the ways through which submicron (i.e., 100-1000 nm) topographies modulate the polarization of macrophages. In the context of bone tissue regeneration,...

Mechanical characterization of nanopillars by atomic force microscopy

Micro- and nano-patterns are gaining increasing attraction in several fields ranging from nanoelectronics to bioengineering. The mechanical properties of the nanostructures (nanopillars, nanotubes, nanowires, etc.) are highly relevant for many applications but challenging to determine. Existing mechanical characterization methods require...

Multi‐material 3D printing of functionally graded hierarchical soft–hard composites

Hard biological tissues (e.g., nacre and bone) have evolved for millions of years, enabling them to overcome the conflict between different mechanical properties. The key to their success lies in the combination of limited material ingredients (i.e., hard and soft constituents) and mechanistic ingredients (e.g., functional gradients and building...

Mechanics of bioinspired functionally graded soft-hard composites made by multi-material 3D printing

Functional gradients are material transitions that are found in nature and are known to result in materials with superior properties and multiple functionalities. The emerging multi-material 3D printing (=additive manufacturing, AM) techniques provide a powerful tool for the design and fabrication of bioinspired functionally graded materials ...

3D Printing of large areas of highly ordered submicron patterns for modulating cell behavior

Fabricating large areas of geometrically complex and precisely controlled topographies is required for the studies of cell behavior on patterned surfaces. Direct laser writing (DLW) is an advanced 3D-fabrication technique, which facilitates the manufacturing of structures within various scales (from a few hundred nanometers to millimeters)....

Submicron patterns-on-a-chip: Fabrication of a microfluidic device incorporating 3D printed surface ornaments

Manufacturing high throughput in vitro models resembling the tissue microenvironment is highly demanded for studying bone regeneration. Tissues such as bone have complex multiscale architectures inside which cells reside. To this end, engineering a microfluidic platform incorporated with three-dimensional (3D) microscaffolds and submicron...

Fracture Behavior of Bio-Inspired Functionally Graded Soft–Hard Composites Made by Multi-Material 3D Printing: The Case of Colinear Cracks

The functional gradient is a concept often occurring in nature. This concept can be implemented in the design and fabrication of advanced materials with specific functionalities and properties. Functionally graded materials (FGMs) can effectively eliminate the interface problems in extremely hard–soft connections, and, thus, have numerous and...