Biofabrication of an oral squamous cell carcinoma model by 3D bioprinting
Funding : Emergence, Cancéropôle Grand Sud-Ouest
June 2018 – June 2019
Nowadays, treatments of oral squamous cell carcinoma is principally based on excision surgery and can be associated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It is really important to have a better understanding of the neoplastic oral mucous membrane to develop less aggressive treatment. This project is a multidisciplinary project aiming at designing an oral squamous cell carcinoma model by 3D bioprinting, to help the development of cancer treatments.
The aim of the project is to develop an in vitro 3D organotipic model of oral mucous membrane with the help of 3D-bioprinting of cellularized layers. The use of two different 3D bioprinting technologies will allow to reproduce the architecture of cancer tissues at a macroscopic and a microscopic scale. Layers of hybrid collagenous peptide based hydrogel encapsulating gingival fibroblasts will be 3D printed by extrusion with layers of endothelial cells in the same hydrogel but 3D printed by a laser-assisted technology, to create a vascularized tissue. Finally, a layer of cancerous keratinocytes embedded into the hydrogel, printed by laser, will cover the model. The complexity of the model will give a better understanding of cellular communication in oral cancer and will be a platform for drug screening.
This project is developed in collaboration with BioTis Team ( Dr. Adrien Naveau and Dr. Raphael Devillar), Inserm 1026 : Tissular Bio-engineering team, Bordeaux.