Toward 3D-Bioprinted Models of the Liver to Boost Drug Development

Abstract

The main problems in drug development are connected to enormous costs related to the paltry success rate. The current situation empowered the development of high-throughput and reliable instruments, in addition to the current golden standards, able to predict the failures in the early preclinical phase. Being hepatotoxicity responsible for the failure of 30% of clinical trials, and the 21% of withdrawal of marketed drugs, the development of complex in vitro models (CIVMs) of liver is currently one of the hottest topics in the field. Among the different fabrication techniques, 3D-bioprinting is emerging as a powerful ally for their production, allowing the manufacture of three-dimensional constructs characterized by computer-controlled and customized geometry, and inter-batches reproducibility. Thanks to these, it is possible to rapidly produce tailored cell-laden constructs, to be cultured within static and dynamic systems, thus reaching a further degree of personalization when designing in vitro models. This review highlights and prioritizes the most recent advances related to the development of CIVMs of the hepatic environment to be specifically applied to pharmaceutical research, with a special focus on 3D-bioprinting, since the liver is primarily involved in the metabolism of drugs.