Investigation of the application of a Taylor-Couette bioreactor in the post-processing of bioprinted human dermal tissue

Over the past decade, 3D printing has been explored as a means of producing human skin mimics for applications such as cosmetics testing, drug screening and wound healing. When it comes to the post-processing step of bioprinting skin, choices in recent times have mainly been the static culture of constructs or the use of perfusion and rotatory bioreactors. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of the use of a Taylor-Couette bioreactor in the maturation of bioprinted dermal constructs. Here, a set of bioprinted dermal constructs were cultured in a Taylor-Couette bioreactor up to a period of 7 days and was simultaneously compared with statically cultured constructs. Evaluation of cellular viability using MTS Assay and LIVE/DEAD Assay showed the capability of the Taylor-Couette bioreactor for improving maturation of fibroblasts in the dermal constructs. Histology and immunostaining revealed no adverse effect of the dynamic culture environment on fibroblasts in the constructs. This study thus demonstrates the possibility of utilizing the Taylor-Couette bioreactor as an alternative means for the maturation of the dermal layer in the skin bioprinting pipeline.