The influence of viscosity of hydrogels on the spreading and migration of cells in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models - review

Sep 22, 2026

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Various three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture models exist for human skin, yet 3D bioprinted skin cancer models still need improvement. Reproducible bioprinting methods, appropriate cell samples, and biomaterial inks are increasingly important. While viscosity effects on cancer cell spreading and migration are well studied overall, fewer studies address viscosity in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models. This review outlines skin cancer types, 3D bioprinting technologies, and the link between hydrogel viscosity and cell spreading, migration, and related biological responses, concluding with remaining challenges and future directions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Skin cancer models and the need for improved 3D bioprinted systems

3D bioprinting technologies and their trade-offs

Advantages and disadvantages of different 3D bioprinting approaches

Hydrogel viscosity and cell spreading/migration

Printability and characterization before/during/after printing

Effects on cell viability, proliferation, spreading, and migration

Focused studies and future directions

Cell migration and spreading in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models

TYPE Review PUBLISHED 21 May 2024 DOI 10.3389/fcell.2024.1391259 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Jeff Bachant, University of California, Riverside, United States REVIEWED BY Fanben Meng, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States Lidia Kos, Florida International University, United States *CORRESPONDENCE Lissinda H. Du Plessis, [Lissinda. DuPlessis@nwu.ac.za](Lissinda. DuPlessis@nwu.ac.za) RECEIVED 25 February 2024 ACCEPTED 06 May 2024 PUBLISHED 21 May 2024 CITATION Du Plessis LH, Gouws C and Nieto D (2024), The inﬂuence of viscosity of hydrogels on the spreading and migration of cells in 3Dbioprinted skin cancer models. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 12:1391259 . doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1391259 COPYRIGHT © 2024 Du Plessis, Gouws and Nieto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. The inﬂuence of viscosity of hydrogels on the spreading and migration of cells in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models Lissinda H. Du Plessis 1*, Chrisna Gouws 1 and Daniel Nieto 2 1Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa, 2Advanced Biofabrication for Tissue and Organ Engineering Group, Interdisciplinary Centre of Chemistry and Biology (CICA), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Coruña, Campus de A Coruna, Coruna, Spain Various in vitro three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture models of human and diseased skin exist. Nevertheless, there is still room for the development and improvement of 3D bioprinted skin cancer models. The need for reproducible bioprinting methods, cell samples, biomaterial inks, and bioinks is becoming increasingly important. The inﬂuence of the viscosity of hydrogels on the spreading and migration of most types of cancer cells is well studied. There are however limited studies on the inﬂuence of viscosity on the spreading and migration of cells in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models. In this review, we will outline the importance of studying the various types of skin cancers by using 3D cell culture models. We will provide an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the various 3D bioprinting technologies. We will emphasize how the viscosity of hydrogels relates to the spreading and migration of cancer cells. Lastly, we will give an overview of the speciﬁc studies on cell migration and spreading in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models. KEYWORDS skin cancer, melanoma, 3D bioprinting, hydrogels, cell interaction 1 Introduction The most important aim of the skin cancer research ﬁeld is to develop safe and effective treatments that can cure patients. To advance the ﬁeld, researchers will continue to rely on improved pre-clinical in vivo and in vitro skin cancer models. These must provide an accurate representation of skin cancer development, plasticity, heterogeneity, progression, and metastasis (Rebecca et al., 2020) . Numerous studies aimed to develop threedimensional (3D) bioprinted skin models, as reviewed by Ansaf et al., 2023, however relatively few studies developed 3D bioprinted skin cancer models. The role of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness is well-known in epithelial cancer progression and is well-studied, as reviewed by Micalet et al., 2023 . The role of hydrogels with tunable elastic moduli on the adhesion, cell spreading, migration, proliferation, apoptosis, stem cell differentiation, tumor progression, metastasis, and drug response is well known (Shen et al., 2014; Chaudhuri et al., 2020) . Again, only limited studies are published on 3D bioprinted skin cancer models. A distinct adv

FAQs

Why are 3D bioprinted skin cancer models important to develop?

They support the search for safe and effective skin cancer treatments and provide more accurate pre-clinical models of development, plasticity, heterogeneity, progression, and metastasis. Despite existing progress in 3D skin models, relatively few studies target 3D bioprinted skin cancer models.

How does hydrogel viscosity relate to cell spreading and migration in 3D bioprinted skin cancer models?

The review emphasizes that viscosity influences how cancer cells spread and migrate within 3D bioprinted constructs. It links viscosity to hydrogel stiffness and downstream outcomes such as viability, proliferation, spreading, and migration.

What factors must be considered around hydrogel viscosity during bioprinting?

Viscosity must be addressed before, during, and after printing. This includes evaluating the printability of hydrogel biomaterial inks and bioinks, and characterizing viscosity, then studying viscosity-related effects in the constructs after printing.

Sep 22, 2026

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