Coaxial bioprinted microfibers with mesenchymal stem cells for glioma microenvironment simulation

Due to their special anatomical and physiological features, central nervous system diseases still presented challenges, despite the fact that some advances have been made in early diagnosis and precision medicine. One of the complexities in treating tumors is the tumor microenvironment, which includes mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that exhibit tumor tropism and can be used for cell therapy. However, whether MSCs promote or suppress gliomas is still unclear, especially in glioma microenvironments. In this study, a coaxial microfiber was designed to mimic the tumor microenvironment and to reveal the effect of MSCs on glioma cells. The fiber shell was composed of MSCs and alginate, and the core was filled with U87MG (glioblastoma) cells and gelatin methacrylate. This Shell-MSC/Core-U87MG microenvironment improved the proliferation, survival, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance of glioma cells, while simultaneously maintaining the stemness of glioma cells. In summary, coaxial extrusion bioprinted Shell-MSC/Core-U87MG microfiber is an ideal platform for tumor and stromal cell coculture to observe tumor biological behavior in vitro. Graphic abstract