Novel bioprinting approaches for the creation of advanced pancreatic cancer initiation models – BioPrint_PaCiniMo

Pancreatic cancer is a complex and progressive disease, for which advanced in vitro models are needed to enable decrypting of its initiation and progression mechanism. We have previously shown that bioprinting, an advanced biofabrication technology, is a key tool that enables the fabrication of near-physiological models, that by controlled deposition of cells within a 3D matrix can further replicate pancreatic initiation cancer events. Here, we want to establish new biofabrication procedures, based on the combination of laser-assisted and microextrusion bioprinting, to gain further control over the model design and replicate the in vivo precancerous niche. These tools can then be applied to decrypt the complex interplay between cancer initiation cells and their niche. The main objective is to achieve simplicity in terms of fabrication and control of each of the components, enabling to replicate a high number of 3D models in a streamlined and reproducible fashion (high-throughput).