GSE208176
Establishing a reproducible approach to study cellular functions of plants cells with 3D bioprinting
Capturing cell-to-cell and cell-to-environment signals in a defined 3 dimensional (3D) microenvironment is key to study cellular functions, including cellular reprogramming towards tissue regeneration. A major challenge in current culturing methods is that these methods cannot accurately capture this multicellular 3D microenvironment. In this study, we established the framework of 3D bioprinting with plant cells to study cell viability, cell division, and cell identity. To investigate the cellular reprogramming underlying the initial cell divisions prior to microcallus formation, we collected RNA from isolated differentiated root cells immediately, 1, and 3 days after bioprinting. We showed the cell cycle re-entry of the isolated Arabidopsis and soybean cells leading to the formation of microcalli and of which the timing coincides with the induction of core cell cycle genes and regeneration-related genes. Finally, we showed that the identity of isolated cells of Arabidopsis roots expressing endodermal markers maintained longer periods of time. The framework established in this study paves the way for a general use of 3D bioprinting for studying cellular reprogramming and cell cycle re-entry towards tissue regeneration. Overall design: For the expression profiles, we collected RNA from bioprinted constructs and isolated cells (as a control) from meristematic and differentiated Arabidopsis thaliana root tissue.  We performed three independent experiments.