Dominic Rütsche

Stanford University | SU · Department of Bioengineering

The creation of multi‐tissue auricular transplants for the treatment of microtia is a challenge due to the complex and layered structure of this anatomical tissue. A novel casting technique for the 3D biofabrication of heterogeneous, multi‐layered, and human‐scale tissue transplants using eluting agarose molds is presented. The molds are generated...

The field of biomedical design and manufacturing has been rapidly evolving, with implants and grafts featuring complex 3D design constraints and materials distributions. By combining a new coding‐based design and modeling approach with high‐throughput volumetric printing, a new approach is demonstrated to transform the way complex shapes are design...

Multiscale printing of 3D perfusable geometries holds great potential for a range of applications, from microfluidic systems to organ‐on‐a‐chip. However, the generation of freeform designs spanning from centimeter to micrometer features represents an unmet challenge for a single fabrication method and thus may require the convergence of two or more...

Adequate vascularization is required for the successful translation of many in vitro engineered tissues. This study presents a novel collagen derivative that harbors multiple recognition peptides for orthogonal enzymatic crosslinking based on sortase A and Factor XIII. Sortase A-mediated crosslinking enables the rapid co-engineering of human blood...

Background CD146 is a cell adhesion molecule whose expression profile in human skin has not yet been elucidated. Here, we characterize CD146 expression pattern in human skin, in particular in blood endothelial cells (BECs) and lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs), which constitute human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs), as well as in p...

The vascular tree spans length scales from centimeter to micrometer. Engineering multiscale vasculature, in particular from millimeter vessels to micrometer-size capillaries, represents an unmet challenge and may require the convergence of two or more printing modalities. Leveraging the great advances in light-based biofabrication, we herein introd...

Cell‐laden hydrogels used in tissue engineering generally lack sufficient 3D topographical guidance for encapsulated cells to mature into aligned tissues. A new strategy called Filamented Light (FLight) biofabrication rapidly creates hydrogels composed of unidirectional microfilament networks, with diameters on the length scale of single cells (< 3...

Human skin contains specialized neuroendocrine Merkel cells responsible for fine touch sensation. In the present study, we performed in-depth analysis of Merkel cells in human fetal back skin. We revealed that these Merkel cells expressed cytokeratin 20 (CK20), were positive for the neuroendocrine markers synaptophysin and chromogranin A, and the m...

The basal layer of human interfollicular epidermis has been described to harbour both quiescent keratinocyte stem cells and a transit amplifying cell population that maintains the suprabasal epidermal layers. We performed immunofluorescence analyses and revealed that the main proliferative keratinocyte pool in vivo resides suprabasally. We isolated...

Extensive availability of engineered autologous dermo-epidermal skin substitutes (DESS) with functional and structural properties of normal human skin represents a goal for the treatment of large skin defects such as severe burns. Recently, a clinical phase I trial with this type of DESS was successfully completed, which included patients own kerat...

CD200 is a cell membrane glycoprotein that interacts with its structurally related receptor (CD200R) expressed on immune cells. We characterized CD200–CD200R interactions in human adult/juvenile (j/a) and fetal (f) skin and in in vivo prevascularized skin substitutes (vascDESS) prepared by co-culturing human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (...

CD157 acts as a receptor, regulating leukocyte trafficking and the binding of extracellular matrix components. However, the expression pattern and the role of CD157 in human blood (BEC) and the lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) of human dermal microvascular cells (HDMEC), remain elusive. We demonstrated constitutive expression of CD157 on BEC and L...

Volumetric Bioprinting Volumetric bioprinting: the next move. In article number 2102900, Marcy Zenobi-Wong and co-workers further develop a revolutionary type of light-based 3D printing called “volumetric” or “tomographic” printing by introducing the use of an optimized, high-performance photo click-based photoresin that results in extremely fast a...

Volumetric printing (VP) is a light-mediated technique enabling printing of complex, low-defect 3D objects within seconds, overcoming major drawbacks of layer-by-layer additive manufacturing. An optimized photoresin is presented for VP in the presence of cells (volumetric bioprinting) based on fast thiol-ene step-growth photoclick crosslinking. Gel...

Severe injuries to skin including hypodermis require full-thickness skin replacement. Here, we bio-engineered a tri-layered human skin substitute (TLSS) containing the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. The hypodermal layer was generated by differentiation of human adipose stem cells (ASC) in a collagen type I hydrogel and combined with a prevascul...

The clinical treatment of large, full-thickness skin injuries with tissue-engineered autologous dermo–epidermal skin substitutes is an emerging alternative to split-thickness skin grafting. However, their production requires about one month of in vitro cell and tissue culture, which is a significant drawback for the treatment of patients with sever...

Sulfated polysaccharides are ubiquitous in living systems and have central roles in biological functions such as organism development, cell proliferation and differentiation, cellular communication, tissue homeostasis, and host defense. Engineered sulfated polysaccharides (ESPs) are structural derivatives not found in nature but generated through c...