3D Printed Sugar Lattice for Vascular Casting in Engineered Living Tissues

This is the scheme we developed for creating vascular networks in living engineered tissues, reported today in Nature Materials. Using a modified RepRap, we 3D printed sugar into a lattice of filaments. The lattice is encapsulated in gel along with living cells. The sugar is dissolved without damaging nearby cells, and then the resulting vasculature is used to deliver nutrients and oxygen to resident cells. We demonstrated the utility of this method to sustain the metabolic output of primary liver cells. Re