Amazing stuff!
"Neural tissue engineering aims to mimic the brain's complex environment, the extracellular matrix, which supports nerve cell growth, development, and proper connectivity. This environment is carefully structured and carries signals that guide how cells behave and interact. ...
Scientists ... have now, for the first time, developed functional brain-like tissue without relying on animal-derived materials or biological coatings. Their innovation, called the Bijel-Integrated PORous Engineered System (BIPORES), offers a new, fully synthetic platform for neural tissue engineering. ..."
"... The new material ... functions as a scaffold on which to grow donor brain cells and could be used to model traumatic brain injuries, strokes, or neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s.
It is primarily composed of a common polymer known for its chemical neutrality called polyethylene glycol, or PEG. Typically, living cells do not attach to PEG without the addition of proteins like laminin or fibrin.
By reshaping PEG into a maze of textured, interconnected pores, the research team turned an inert material into a matrix that cells recognize, colonize, and use to build functional neural networks. Once these cells mature, they could exhibit donor-specific neural activity, allowing direct evaluation of drugs targeted to their neurological conditions. ..."
From the abstract:
"3D tissue-engineered models hold great promise for recreating the intricate architecture and dynamic functions of neural tissues. However, replicating the nuanced structural cues of the brain in vitro remains challenging, as existing platforms often fail to capture the precise architectural motifs that regulate biological responses.
Here, a bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gel (bijel)-based fabrication strategy that combines solvent transfer-induced phase separation (STrIPS), microfluidics, and bioprinting to develop a Bijel-Integrated PORous Engineered System (BIPORES) for neural tissue engineering is introduced.
This multifaceted approach yields scaffolds featuring interconnected micropores and textured surfaces interspersed with a hyperbolic curvature, seamlessly integrated within macroscale fibrous networks.
By leveraging STrIPS of a ternary precursor mixture stabilized by amphiphilic nanoparticles, we synthesized poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) BIPORES support neural stem cell adhesion within 30 s without additional biological factors—a first for PEGDA scaffolds.
Long-term cultures demonstrate extensive migration, robust proliferation, and differentiation into neuronal and astrocytic lineages, forming 3D networks with enhanced synaptic activity. Collagen encapsulation amplifies 3D cell growth, simulating native neuroanatomical compartmentalization.
From a biomimicry standpoint, this multiscale fabrication strategy better approximates native neural tissue dynamics with significant implications for disease modeling, drug screening, and regenerative therapies."
Scientists engineer first fully synthetic brain tissue model (original news release)
Bicontinuous Microarchitected Scaffolds Provide Topographic Cues That Govern Neuronal Behavior and Maturation (open access)
Fig. 1 PEGDA-BIPORES fiber formation via STrIPS and flow-controlled morphology.
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