小鼠利用3D打印卵巢成功生育

————类似的技术也有助于恢复人类的生育能力

作者：Alexandra Ossola 

2016年4月5日

http://www.popsci.com/mice-give-birth-to-pups-thanks-to-3d-printed-ovaries

受精卵

不管是因为化疗、年龄或其他原因，女性身体有可能停止生产能受精并孕育出胚胎的正常卵子。但是不用紧张，现在来自芝加哥西北大学的研究人员已经开发出一种三维打印的支架，它可以帮助无法产生正常卵子的女性恢复该功能。当研究人员将该3D打印的支架植入已经切除卵巢的雌性小鼠体内时，这些小鼠成功妊娠并且生下了健康的幼崽。在上周于波士顿举行的内分泌学会年会上，该研究的作者发表了他们的研究成果。

为了正常工作，该3D打印的假体支架需要有足够的刚性，并可以通过手术植入体内。同时，它还要有足够的灵活性，以便让卵子在其内发育。因此，研究者们利用明胶打印出一个脚手架，并在脚手架上植入通过细胞培养获取的卵泡细胞以产生雌激素。

这一结果是最近所发表的几项相关研究中的最新成果。在这些研究中，研究人员已经把生成卵子的卵母细胞作为治疗不孕不育症的新方法。如果本文提到的这种生物假体能应用在人体中，它可同时解决不孕症中激素含量低及不能产生卵子的问题。因此，研究人员在该实验中对3D打印的假体进行了特别的设计，以充分考虑其在以后人体相关应用中的价值。

如果该成果能最终在临床上应用，则有可能恢复某些女性的生育能力，尤其是那些儿童癌症幸存者的生育能力，因为她们在成年后发生不育的风险性比普通人要高。

NFERTILE MICE GIVE BIRTH, THANKS TO 3D-PRINTED OVARIES

A SIMILAR TECHNIQUE MIGHT HELP RESTORE HUMAN FERTILITY

Whether it’s because of a treatment like chemotherapy, a result of age, or for other reasons, women's bodies can stop producing the eggs that, when fertilized, can become babies. Now researchers have developed a 3D-printed scaffolding that could restore that function. When they implanted it in female mice that had their ovaries removed, the moms gave birth to healthy pups. The scientists presented their research last week at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston.

In order to work properly, the prostheses would need to be rigid enough to be implanted during surgery, but flexible enough to allow eggs to develop. So the researchers printed a scaffolding out of gelatin. The scaffolding was doped with cells cultured from humans--follicles that produce estrogen, as well as contain the structures that eventually mature into eggs.

In the study, the researchers removed mice’s ovaries and implanted the 3D-printed prosthetic ovaries in their place. The mice were able to ovulate, give birth to healthy pups, and nurse normally.

This is the most recent of several scientific efforts in which researchers have turned to the cells that create eggs as a treatment for infertility. If this bioprosthesis can be made to work in humans, it might be address both the hormonal and egg-producing facets of infertility. The researchers specifically designed their prosthesis “with downstream human applications in mind,” according to the press release.