3D Bioprinting Strategies in Autoimmune Disease Models

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a rapidly evolving technology that uses complementary biomaterials to emulate native extracellular matrices, enabling the generation of finely patterned, multicellular tissue architectures. Autoimmune diseases (AD), which are characterized by chronic, often organ-specific, immune response, are ideally suited to these in vitro models. This review summarizes the current state of 3D bioprinting for modelling AD, focusing on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type 1 diabetes (T1D) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as applications to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), neuroinflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and other AD. Bioprinting modalities, advances in immune competent bioinks, strategies for vascularization and approaches to the hybridization of printed tissues with organoids and organ-on-chip systems are reviewed. From a clinical perspective, this review focuses on applications with translational potential, including immune-competent models derived from patients for biomarker discovery, drug screening and treatment response prediction. The key challenges, notably the reconstitution of full immune complexity, stable and perfusable vasculature, and maintenance of long-term viability and function are highlighted. Finally, future directions are defined to enhance the clinical utility and impact of 3D bioprinting across preclinical development and precision medicine.