Biomimetic 3d-printed hierarchical in vitro human synovium model for anti-arthritis drug evaluation

Abstract

A bio-printed in vitro three-dimensional (3D) human synovium model, comprising: an upper layer comprising human synovial cells and human macrophages exhibiting a pro-inflammatory phenotype; and a lower layer comprising human macrophages exhibiting an anti-inflammatory phenotype; wherein the model is configured to mimic the inflammatory microenvironment of human synovial tissue. The present invention also discloses a method for constructing an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) human synovium model, comprising the steps of preparing hydrogel cell inks; incorporating one or more human cells exhibiting an anti-inflammatory phenotype into the hydrogel to form at least one layer; incorporating one or more human synovial cells and human cells exhibiting a pro-inflammatory phenotype into the hydrogel to form at least one layer above the anti-inflammatory layer; and performing crosslinking and culturing the hydrogel to establish an inflammatory microenvironment, thereby forming an in vitro 3D human synovium model.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.