Glioblastoma (GBM), with rich blood vessels and high invasiveness, is the most common malignant
primary brain tumor. The current treatment strategies are less effective, resulting in
tumor recurrence.
Tumor angiogenesis plays an important role in the occurrence, development and
metastasis of GBM. Currently, GBM has been treated by inhibiting
tumor angiogenesis. In-depth study of
tumor angiogenesis is of great significance for the treatment of GBM. Recent studies have shown that
glioma stem cells (GSCs) are involved in
tumor vascularization by secreting
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF). It is necessary to construct an ideal in vitro model to study the mechanism of GSCs in
tumor vascularization. Here we used extrusion-based three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology to fabricate GSCs
tumor model. In this study, the viability of cells after bioprinting was 86.27 ± 2.41%. Furthermore, compared with traditional
suspension culture, the proliferation of 3D printed GSCs was more stable. Through the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), numerous long microvilli of cells cultured in 3D bioprinted scaffolds were observed. 3D bioprinted GSCs also have more abundant mitochondria and rough endoplasmic reticulum. Additionally, the stemness properties, the expression of
tumor angiogenesis-related genes and vascularization potential of 3D bioprinted GSCs in vitro were higher than that of
suspension cultured cells. In summary, 3D bioprinted cell-laden
hydrogel scaffolds provide a proper model for investigating the biological characteristics of GSCs and
tumor angiogenesis.