3D printing for tiny blood vessels could help bring an end to animal drug testing

A study that harnesses a pioneering 3D printing technique to create tiny human blood vessel structures could eventually help end the use of animals to test new drugs.

The research, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, focuses on crafting microvasculature—small vessels critical for tissue health—that measure just 70 micrometers, smaller than a human hair.

The new method—called PRINCESS (PRINting Cell Embedded Sacrificial Strategy)—uses a special type of DNA hydrogel as a biolubricant, to successfully print the smallest ever microvasculature to date.

Sophisticated screening

The research team, led by the University of Strathclyde, say that being able to print human tissues at scale to create a more sophisticated drug screening platform could eventually end the use of animals in drug testing, which isn’t always accurate to show what’s happening in the human body.

With more research, they also say that their model created using human cells could reduce cost and be more effective, saving the global pharmaceutical industry billions of dollars.

Professor Will Shu, Hay Chair and head of a world leading research group at the University of Strathclyde said, “Animal testing is not always a good predictor of human response to a drug, so there is a need to develop a more realistic human testing mechanism, and microvasculature is a key facet of that.

“The ability to build intricate vascular networks is crucial for the creation of thick tissues, one of the grand challenges—or ‘holy grails’—of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Our new strategy offers an exciting new way for producing engineered human tissues or mini organs in the lab, that could eventually replace the use of animals.”

Professor Shu says that the technology also offers great potential to create new human disease models, with promising progress already seen in applications for heart diseases, cancer and neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s.