Neural cell integration into 3D bioprinted skeletal muscle constructs accelerates restoration of muscle function

Ji Hyun Kim, Ickhee Kim, Young-Joon Seol, In Kap Ko, James J. Yoo, Anthony Atala and Sang Jin Lee ()
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Ji Hyun Kim: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Ickhee Kim: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Young-Joon Seol: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
In Kap Ko: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
James J. Yoo: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Anthony Atala: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Sang Jin Lee: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract A bioengineered skeletal muscle construct that mimics structural and functional characteristics of native skeletal muscle is a promising therapeutic option to treat extensive muscle defect injuries. We previously showed that bioprinted human skeletal muscle constructs were able to form multi-layered bundles with aligned myofibers. In this study, we investigate the effects of neural cell integration into the bioprinted skeletal muscle construct to accelerate functional muscle regeneration in vivo. Neural input into this bioprinted skeletal muscle construct shows the improvement of myofiber formation, long-term survival, and neuromuscular junction formation in vitro. More importantly, the bioprinted constructs with neural cell integration facilitate rapid innervation and mature into organized muscle tissue that restores normal muscle weight and function in a rodent model of muscle defect injury. These results suggest that the 3D bioprinted human neural-skeletal muscle constructs can be rapidly integrated with the host neural network, resulting in accelerated muscle function restoration.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14930-9

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