Seminar

MONITORING BIOPRINTED 3D CELL ENVIRONMENTS

Clara García Astrain

Bioprinting enables the fabrication of supportive scaffolds for tissue growth or disease modelling using diverse biopolymer- and hydrogel-based inks. Beyond structural support, 3D printable inks can be engineered with functional properties to create sensing platforms capable of monitoring tissue development and disease progression in real time. In this study, we explore the integration of plasmonic nanoparticles and functional polymers into bioink formulations to develop advanced 3D cell models with multimodal sensing and imaging capabilities. Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) was employed for in situ detection, leveraging the optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles, enabling highly sensitive molecular detection. Moreover, SERS-labeled nanoparticles were used for imaging applications with multiplexing capacity, either by direct scaffold incorporation or intracellular uptake by cells. Beyond SERS-based detection, bioinks incorporating fluorescent polymers were developed to introduce complementary optical sensing mechanisms. These polymers provide fluorescence-based readouts of local environmental changes, such as pH shifts or metabolic activity, facilitating dynamic monitoring of cellular processes. Different bioink formulations, including synthetic polymers, biopolymers, and decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM)-derived materials, were explored for fabricating physiologically relevant 3D models. The integration of functional polymers and plasmonic nanoparticles enables the monitoring of metabolite secretion, cellular responses, and disease progression, representing a powerful strategy for real-time, non-invasive monitoring of 3D cell cultures and offering new avenues for disease modeling, drug screening, and personalized medicine applications.