英3D打印幹細胞 或可造人體器官
A 3D printing technique that produces clusters of stem cells could speed up progress towards the creation of artificial organs, scientists claim.
科學家稱，現在可以用3D打印技術批量製造出幹細胞，這一技術將能加速實現打印人造器官的進程。In the more immediate future it could be used to generate biopsy-like tissue samples for drug testing.
在不久的未來，這種3D打印技術可以用來製造類活組織物質，作爲藥物測試的樣品。The technique relies on an adjustable "microvalve" to build up layers of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).
該技術依靠可調節的“微型閥”來製造出一層層的人體胚胎幹細胞。
Altering the nozzle diameter precisely controls the rate at which cells are dispensed.
通過改變噴嘴直徑可精確地控制幹細胞產出的速度。Lead scientist Dr Will Shu, from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said: "We found that the valve-based printing is gentle enough to maintain high stem cellviability, accurate enough to produce spheroids of uniform size, and most importantly, the printed hESCs maintained their pluripotency - the ability to differentiate into any other cell type."
首席科學家、來自愛丁堡赫瑞瓦特大學的威爾•休博士說：“我們發現，這一依靠閥來調節的打印技術很溫和，能保持幹細胞的高存活率，也能準確地製造出大小一致的球狀體，最重要的是，打印出的人體胚胎幹細胞能保持它們的多能型，即分化成其他類型細胞的潛能。”Embryonic stem cells, which originate from early stage embryos, are blank slates with the potential to become any type of tissue in the body.
源自早期胚胎的胚胎幹細胞就像一塊白板，有潛能成爲身體內任何一種組織。The research is reported today in the journal Biofabrication.
這一研究報告今日發表在《生物製造》雜誌上。In the long term, the new printing technique could pave the way for hESCs being incorporated into transplant-ready laboratory-made organs and tissues, said the researchers.
研究人員表示，從長遠來看，這一新打印技術將爲人體胚胎幹細胞用於實驗室製造的可移植人體器官和組織鋪平道路。The 3D structures will also enable scientists to create more accurate human tissue models for drug testing.
3D打印出的人造器官還能讓科學家制造出更準確的人體組織模型，用於藥物測試。Cloning technology can produce embryonic stem cells, or cells with ESC properties, containing a patient's own genetic programming.
克隆技術可以製造出包含病人自身遺傳基因的胚胎幹細胞，或具備胚胎幹細胞性能的細胞。Artificial tissue and organs made from such cells could be implanted into the patient from which they are derived without triggering a dangerous immune response.
用這種細胞製造出來的人造組織和器官可以被移植到原細胞所有者體內，而不會引發危險的免疫反應。Jason King, business development manager of stem cell biotech company Roslin Cellab, which took part in the research, said: "Normally laboratory grown cells grow in 2D but some cell types have been printed in 3D. However, up to now, human stem cell cultures have been too sensitive to manipulate in this way.
參與這一研究的幹細胞生物科技公司Roslin Cellab的業務發展經理傑森•金說：“通常實驗室製造的細胞是用2D方式培育出來的，但現在已經3D打印出一些類型的細胞。不過，迄今爲止，人體幹細胞文化一直都比較敏感，還不能這麼操作。"This is a scientific development which we hope and believe will have immensely valuable long-term implications for reliable, animal-free, drug testing, and, in the longer term, to provide organs for transplant on demand, without the need for donation and without the problems of immune suppression and potential organ rejection."
“我們希望也相信這一科學發展對不用動物的可靠藥物測試會有極大的價值和長遠意義，在更長遠的未來，還能應移植需求提供器官，不再需要器官捐獻，也不會產生免疫抑制和潛在的器官排斥問題。”
