AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026150135
REVIEW ARTICLE
Early Access

3D bioprinting of iPSC-derived tissues: From structural fabrication to functional maturation and clinical translation

Fei Han1,2 Xuesong He3*
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1 Department of Pharmacy, Gannan Healthcare Vocational College, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, China
2 Ganzhou Key Laboratory of Active Ingredients and Pharmacological Effects of Hakka Medicinal Plants, Gannan Health Vocational College, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, China
3 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, No 1518 Huanchengbei Road, Jiaxing 314000, Zhejiang Province, China
Received: 10 April 2026 | Revised: 20 May 2026 | Accepted: 1 June 2026 | Published online: 9 June 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting combined with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offers a practical route to building human tissue models with improved structural and functional relevance. By controlling cell placement and local microenvironments, these systems better reproduce tissue organization and multicellular interactions than conventional culture methods. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of recent advances in iPSC-based bioprinting, with a focus on how biofabrication strategies shape tissue organization and function. Recent work has shifted the field away from simply achieving structural fidelity toward maintaining stable and reproducible function. Progress in bioink design, vascularization strategies, and multi-material printing has enabled the generation of cardiac tissues with perfusable networks, neural constructs with coordinated activity, and metabolic tissues with sustained functional output. These advances have strengthened the use of bioprinted tissues in disease modeling and drug evaluation. Evidence from early clinical studies suggests that translation is currently driven by modular and well-defined products rather than fully printed organs. Cardiac patches, dopaminergic progenitor cell therapies, stem cell–derived islets, and retinal implants illustrate how simpler, function-oriented constructs can meet clinical and manufacturing requirements. The review further discusses key challenges for clinical translation, including tissue maturation, manufacturing scalability, and regulatory standardization. By connecting technological advances with emerging clinical evidence, this review establishes a conceptual framework for translating iPSC-based bioprinting into practical therapeutic applications.

Keywords
iPSCs
3D bioprinting
Biofabrication
Tissue maturation
Clinical translation
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing