Freeform micropatterning of living cells into cell culture medium using direct inkjet printing

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 14610
• Main Authors: Park, Ju An, Yoon, Sejeong, Kwon, Jimin, Now, Hesung, Kim, Young Kwon, Kim, Woo-Jong, Yoo, Joo-Yeon, Jung, Sungjune
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 03.11.2017; Nature Publishing Group UK
• Subjects: A549 Cells; Bioprinting - methods; Biotechnology; Cell culture; Cell Proliferation; Cell Survival; Coculture Techniques - instrumentation; Culture Media; Equipment Design; HeLa Cells; Humans; Infectivity; Influenza; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza, Human - pathology; Influenza, Human - physiopathology; Ink jet printers; Micropatterning; Microtechnology - instrumentation; Microtechnology - methods; Mimicry; Pattern formation; Printing
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14726-w

Microfabrication methods have widely been used to control the local cellular environment on a micron scale. However, accurately mimicking the complexity of the in vivo tissue architecture while maintaining the freedom of form and design is still a challenge when co-culturing multiple types of cells on the same substrate. For the first time, we present a drop-on-demand inkjet printing method to directly pattern living cells into a cell-friendly liquid environment. High-resolution control of cell location is achieved by precisely optimizing printing parameters with high-speed imaging of cell jetting and impacting behaviors. We demonstrated the capabilities of the direct cell printing method by co-printing different cells into various designs, including complex gradient arrangements. Finally, we applied this technique to investigate the influence of the heterogeneity and geometry of the cell population on the infectivity of seasonal H1N1 influenza virus (PR8) by generating A549 and HeLa cells printed in checkboard patterns of different sizes in a medium-filled culture dish. Direct inkjet cell patterning can be a powerful and versatile tool for both fundamental biology and applied biotechnology.