Co-cultured Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation on 3D Printed Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have a great potential in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their ability to self-renew and differentiate into various lineages. They can be differentiated by chemical factors, mechanical stimulus, and electrical potential among others. However, one of the strategies to enhance osteogenic differentiation of MSCs is to co-culture them with endothelial cells (ECs) exploiting their cell-cell interactions. In addition to differentiating into osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic lineages, MSCs can differentiate into endothelial phenotype in vivo behavior can be reflected more accurately by a three-dimensional (3D) scaffold environment than a two-dimensional (2D) planar surface. Hence, 3D bioprinting can be used to provide a new opportunity for stem cell distribution, positioning, and differentiation at the microscale to make the differentiated architecture of any tissue while maintaining precision and control over the cellular microenvironment