What We’re Working On – Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine

WHat We’re Working oN

Bioprinting

The precision of bioprinting is what makes it an attractive option for bioengineering organs. The team initially took an ordinary inkjet desktop printer and modified it to print tissues. Over a 14-year period, they created the Integrated Tissue and Organ Printing (ITOP) System that deposits both biodegradable, plastic- like materials to form the tissue “shape” and water-based gels containing the cells. Institute scientists made international headlines in 2016 with their report proving the feasibility of printing living tissue structures – bone, cartilage and muscle tissue – that when implanted in experimental models, developed a system of nerves and blood vessels. It was shown that these structures have the correct size, strength and function for use in humans, proving the feasibility of printing living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue.

NASA Vascular Tissue Challenge

Two WFIRM teams of scientists swept the NASA Vascular Tissue Challenge competition created to accelerate tissue engineering innovations. Both teams used 3D bioprinting technology and different materials to produce functional, lab-grown liver tissues that were robust enough to survive and function in ways similar to a human liver.

The ISS U.S. National Laboratory, which is managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, will work with the teams to adapt their winning strategies for space. The combination of improved vasculature and microgravity could yield the next set of advances for tissue engineering on Earth and biomanufacturing in space.

Skinprinting

In the not too distant future, a bioprinter filled with a patient’s own cells can be wheeled right to the bedside to treat large wounds or burns by printing skin, layer by layer, to begin the healing process. WFIRM scientists have created such a mobile skin bioprinting system – the first of its kind – that allows bi-layered skin to be printed directly into a wound.

The mobility of the system and the ability to provide on- site management of extensive wounds by scanning and measuring them in order to deposit the cells directly where they are needed to create skin is what makes it so unique. Our researchers demonstrated proof-of-concept of the system by printing skin directly onto pre-clinical models.

Body-on-a-Chip

WFIRM’s “Body-on-a-Chip” is an advanced 3D model of the human body using a system of chips and microfluidic devices that creates a structure for the humanoid tissue equivalents, also known as organoids. The system can be designed to fit an area about the size of a matchbox. The bioprinted organoids function in a very similar manner as actual human organs. For example, the heart beats about 60 times each minute, the lung breathes the air from the surrounding environment, and the liver breaks down toxic compounds into harmless waste products.

The organoids allow researchers to analyze a drug’s impact on an organ. They tested the system using FDA recalled drugs, and although these drugs made it through extensive testing via cell culture, animals and human clinical trials with no issues, the WFIRM system was able to readily detect toxicity and replicate the damage seen in patients.

Personalized Medicine

Because the tissue equivalents can reproduce human physiology at a high level, they are an excellent pre-clinical testing platform for evaluating drug treatments and developing new therapies. Wake Forest researchers and clinicians are using patient-specific tumor organoid models to better treat cancer patients.

This aspect of the research led to the formation of the Wake Forest Organoid Research Center (WFORCE), a joint venture between WFIRM and the Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center. WFORCE is the first program of its kind to leverage reconstruction of a patient’s own tumor to personalize cancer treatment.

New Consortium

The Humanoid Sensor Consortium is an effort to revolutionize drug development and personalized medicine, utilizing WFIRM’s “Body-on-a- Chip” system. By pooling stakeholder talents and resources to address industry-wide challenges in new drug development and predictive response, the Consortium can help big pharma save billions of dollars and drive a new standard of care for patients by using organoids to test treatments to identify the best possible therapy.