# Pillar and perfusion well plate platforms for reproducible organoid culture from iPSC

> **NIH NIH R44** · BIOPRINTING LABORATORIES, INC. · 2021 · $403,604

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 There is a critical need for improved in vitro disease modeling to rapidly advance therapeutic drug
candidates to preclinical evaluation or to prioritize potential environmental toxicants. Recently, there
have been significant advances made in in vitro disease models, including human mini-tissues derived
from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and progenitor cells (a.k.a., organoid), bioprinted human tissue
constructs with cells obtained from patients (a.k.a., 3D bioprinting), and multi-layered cells in
microfluidic chips (a.k.a., organ-on-chip). These new and innovative technologies, however, still lack
enough throughput and user friendliness to enable rapid identification of high-quality therapeutic
candidates, particularly when a disease involves multiple organ interactions. To address these
challenges, we propose to leverage our unique “miniature three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting”
technology and associated pillar/perfusion plate platforms, including a 384-pillar plate with sidewalls
and slits (384PillarPlate) and a clear-bottom, 384-deep well plate (384DeepWellPlate) developed for
static organoid culture as well as a 36-pillar plate with sidewalls and slits (36PillarPlate) and a 36-
perfusion well plate with reservoirs and microchannels (36PerfusionPlate) for perfusion-based organoid
culture. Our proposed pillar/perfusion plate platforms combining “3D bioprinting” with “microfluidic-like”
features offer several distinctive advantages over more conventional 3D cell culture models and
microfluidic models. In particular, the pillar/perfusion plates are compatible with standard 384-well
plates and existing high-throughput screening (HTS) equipment (e.g., automated fluorescence
microscopes and microtiter well plate readers) already familiar to users, which will significantly lower
barriers to entry for commercialization. In the proposed research, human brain organoids (HBOs)
derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are selected as a model system to develop a
predictive assessment tool for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) by compounds including opioid drugs
and alcohol. Our core hypotheses are: (i) bioprinted HBOs on the pillar/perfusion plates can maintain
key tissue biomarkers by controlling and mimicking in vivo microenvironments and enable high-
throughput, high-content cell function analysis; (ii) HBOs on the pillar/perfusion plates can model the
influence of drugs and environmental toxicants to neurodevelopmental disorders. The specific aims of
the proposed research are to: (1) improve reproducibility of organoid culture via miniature 3D
bioprinting technology; (2) establish in situ whole organoid imaging on a pillar plate for high-throughput,
predictive compound screening; (3) establish cryopreservation of organoids on the pillar plate. We
envision that bioprinted human organoids on the pillar/perfusion plate platforms can be used as
promising disease models for screening therapeutic drugs while minimizing t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10210319
- **Project number:** 5R44TR003491-02
- **Recipient organization:** BIOPRINTING LABORATORIES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Pranav Joshi
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $403,604
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-07-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10210319

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10210319, Pillar and perfusion well plate platforms for reproducible organoid culture from iPSC (5R44TR003491-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10210319. Licensed CC0.

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