Tiziana Fischetti

@unibo.it

Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences
University of Bologna

Tiziana Fischetti


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https://researchid.co/tiziana.fischetti
8

Scopus Publications

251

Scholar Citations

5

Scholar h-index

5

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Development of novel organic/inorganic osteomimetic inks for 3D bioprinted in vitro bone models
    Tiziana Fischetti, Gabriela Graziani, Giorgia Borciani, Matteo Pitton, Elisa Boanini, et al.
    Biomaterials Advances, 2026
  • Antibacterial nanostructured silver coating applied on polycaprolactone Melt Electrospinning Writing meshes for wound dressing application
    Matteo Montesissa, Mauro Petretta, Gregorio Marchiori, Gabriela Graziani, Francesca Perut, et al.
    Materials Today Communications, 2025
  • Combining 3D Printing and Cryostructuring to Tackle Infection and Spine Fusion
    Tiziana Fischetti, Gabriela Graziani, Daniele Ghezzi, Friederike Kaiser, Stefanie Hoelscher‐Doht, et al.
    Advanced Materials Technologies, 2024
    Low back pain is among the main issues in vertebral orthopaedics. Intervertebral disk degeneration can be severe, up to requiring the replacement of the damaged disk by substitutes to achieve spine fusion. Disk removal results in critical size defects, so fusion does not occur naturally, but synthetic bone grafts are needed. Since the surgical procedure is time‐consuming, high infection rates occur. Hence, in spine fusion, bone regeneration enhancement and infection prevention are needed. Here, a new dual‐component system is proposed, to tackle both issues at one time. To enable spine fusion, 3D extrusion‐based printing is employed to develop coherent custom magnesium phosphate (CaMgP)‐based cages. The 3D‐printed scaffolds are hardened, and the structural properties are evaluated to be within the ranges of physiological bone. To prevent infection, an in‐house ice‐templating device is employed in combination with a 3D‐printed ceramic scaffold, to develop tailored porous alginate structures loaded with vancomycin. Results show that CaMgP can be printed into complex geometries and that the geometry influences the pore orientation during ice‐templating. These structures loaded with vancomycin have antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains.
  • Advantages and limitations of using cell viability assays for 3D bioprinted constructs
    Sofia Avnet, Gemma Di Pompo, Giorgia Borciani, Tiziana Fischetti, Gabriela Graziani, et al.
    Biomedical Materials Bristol, 2024
    Bioprinting shows promise for bioengineered scaffolds and three-dimensional (3D) disease models, but assessing the viability of embedded cells is challenging. Conventional assays are limited by the technical problems that derive from using multi-layered bioink matrices dispersing cells in three dimensions. In this study, we tested bioprinted osteogenic bioinks as a model system. Alginate- or gelatin-based bioinks were loaded with/without ceramic microparticles and osteogenic cells (bone tumor cells, with or without normal bone cells). Despite demonstrating 80%–90% viability through manual counting and live/dead staining, this was time-consuming and operator-dependent. Moreover, for the alginate-bioprinted scaffold, cell spheroids could not be distinguished from single cells. The indirect assay (alamarBlue), was faster but less accurate than live/dead staining due to dependence on hydrogel permeability. Automated confocal microscope acquisition and cell counting of live/dead staining was more reproducible, reliable, faster, efficient, and avoided overestimates compared to manual cell counting by optical microscopy. Finally, for 1.2 mm thick 3D bioprints, dual-photon confocal scanning with vital staining greatly improved the precision of the evaluation of cell distribution and viability and cell–cell interactions through the z-axis. In summary, automated confocal microscopy and cell counting provided superior accuracy for the assessment of cell viability and interactions in 3D bioprinted models compared to most commonly and currently used techniques.
  • Incorporation/Enrichment of 3D Bioprinted Constructs by Biomimetic Nanoparticles: Tuning Printability and Cell Behavior in Bone Models
    Tiziana Fischetti, Giorgia Borciani, Sofia Avnet, Katia Rubini, Nicola Baldini, et al.
    Nanomaterials, 2023
    Reproducing in vitro a model of the bone microenvironment is a current need. Preclinical in vitro screening, drug discovery, as well as pathophysiology studies may benefit from in vitro three-dimensional (3D) bone models, which permit high-throughput screening, low costs, and high reproducibility, overcoming the limitations of the conventional two-dimensional cell cultures. In order to obtain these models, 3D bioprinting offers new perspectives by allowing a combination of advanced techniques and inks. In this context, we propose the use of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles, assimilated to the mineral component of bone, as a route to tune the printability and the characteristics of the scaffold and to guide cell behavior. To this aim, both stoichiometric and Sr-substituted hydroxyapatite nanocrystals are used, so as to obtain different particle shapes and solubility. Our findings show that the nanoparticles have the desired shape and composition and that they can be embedded in the inks without loss of cell viability. Both Sr-containing and stoichiometric hydroxyapatite crystals permit enhancing the printing fidelity of the scaffolds in a particle-dependent fashion and control the swelling behavior and ion release of the scaffolds. Once Saos-2 cells are encapsulated in the scaffolds, high cell viability is detected until late time points, with a good cellular distribution throughout the material. We also show that even minor modifications in the hydroxyapatite particle characteristics result in a significantly different behavior of the scaffolds. This indicates that the use of calcium phosphate nanocrystals and structural ion-substitution is a promising approach to tune the behavior of 3D bioprinted constructs.
  • Marine biological waste as a source of hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering applications
    Giorgia Borciani, Tiziana Fischetti, Gabriela Ciapetti, Matteo Montesissa, Nicola Baldini, et al.
    Ceramics International, 2023
  • 3d printing and bioprinting to model bone cancer: The role of materials and nanoscale cues in directing cell behavior
    Tiziana Fischetti, Gemma Di Pompo, Nicola Baldini, Sofia Avnet, Gabriela Graziani
    Cancers, 2021
    Bone cancer, both primary and metastatic, is characterized by a low survival rate. Currently, available models lack in mimicking the complexity of bone, of cancer, and of their microenvironment, leading to poor predictivity. Three-dimensional technologies can help address this need, by developing predictive models that can recapitulate the conditions for cancer development and progression. Among the existing tools to obtain suitable 3D models of bone cancer, 3D printing and bioprinting appear very promising, as they enable combining cells, biomolecules, and biomaterials into organized and complex structures that can reproduce the main characteristic of bone. The challenge is to recapitulate a bone-like microenvironment for analysis of stromal–cancer cell interactions and biological mechanics leading to tumor progression. In this review, existing approaches to obtain in vitro 3D-printed and -bioprinted bone models are discussed, with a focus on the role of biomaterials selection in determining the behavior of the models and its degree of customization. To obtain a reliable 3D bone model, the evaluation of different polymeric matrices and the inclusion of ceramic fillers is of paramount importance, as they help reproduce the behavior of both normal and cancer cells in the bone microenvironment. Open challenges and future perspectives are discussed to solve existing shortcomings and to pave the way for potential development strategies.
  • Tripolyphosphate-Crosslinked Chitosan/Gelatin Biocomposite Ink for 3D Printing of Uniaxial Scaffolds
    Tiziana Fischetti, Nehar Celikkin, Nicola Contessi Negrini, Silvia Farè, Wojciech Swieszkowski
    Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2020
    Chitosan is a natural polymer widely investigated and used due to its antibacterial activity, mucoadhesive, analgesic, and hemostatic properties. Its biocompatibility makes chitosan a favorable candidate for different applications in tissue engineering (TE), such as skin, bone, and cartilage tissue regeneration. Despite promising results obtained with chitosan 3D scaffolds, significant challenges persist in fabricating hydrogel structures with ordered architectures and biological properties to mimic native tissues. In this work, chitosan has been investigated aiming at designing and fabricating uniaxial scaffolds which can be proposed for the regeneration of anisotropic tissues (i.e., skin, skeletal muscle, myocardium) by 3D printing technology. Chitosan was blended with gelatin to form a polyelectrolyte complex in two different ratios, to improve printability and shape retention. After the optimization of the printing process parameters, different crosslinking conditions were investigated, and the 3D printed samples were characterized. Tripolyphosphate (TPP) was used as crosslinker for chitosan-based scaffolds. For the optimization of the printing temperature, the sol-gel temperature of the chitosan-gelatin blend was determined by rheological measurements and extrusion temperature was set to 20°C (i.e., below sol-gel temperature). The shape fidelity and surface morphology of the 3D printed scaffolds after crosslinking was dependent on crosslinking conditions. Interestingly, mechanical properties of the scaffolds were also significantly affected by the crosslinking conditions, nonetheless the stability of the scaffolds was strongly determined by the content of gelatin in the blend. Lastly, in vitro cytocompatibility test was performed to evaluate the interactions between L929 cells and the 3D printed samples. 2% w/v chitosan and 4% w/v gelatin hydrogel scaffolds crosslinked with 10% TPP, 30 min at 4°C following 30 min at 37°C have shown cytocompatible and stable characteristics, compared to all other tested conditions, showing suitable properties for the regeneration of anisotropic tissues.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Antibacterial nanostructured silver coating applied on polycaprolactone Melt Electrospinning Writing meshes for wound dressing application
    M Montesissa, M Petretta, G Marchiori, G Graziani, F Perut, E Lopo, ...
    Materials Today Communications, 114379 , 2025
    2025.0
    Citations: 3
  • Development of novel organic/inorganic osteomimetic inks for 3D bioprinted in vitro bone models
    T Fischetti, G Graziani, G Borciani, M Pitton, E Boanini, N Baldini, S Farè
    Biomaterials Advances, 214608 , 2025
    2025.0
    Citations: 1
  • Advantages and limitations of using cell viability assays for 3D bioprinted constructs
    S Avnet, GD Pompo, G Borciani, T Fischetti, G Graziani, N Baldini
    Biomedical Materials 19 (2), 025033 , 2024
    2024.0
    Citations: 24
  • Combining 3D printing and cryostructuring to tackle infection and spine fusion
    T Fischetti, G Graziani, D Ghezzi, F Kaiser, S Hoelscher‐Doht, ...
    Advanced Materials Technologies 9 (5), 2301301 , 2024
    2024.0
    Citations: 2
  • Incorporation/enrichment of 3D bioprinted constructs by biomimetic nanoparticles: tuning printability and cell behavior in bone models
    T Fischetti, G Borciani, S Avnet, K Rubini, N Baldini, G Graziani, E Boanini
    Nanomaterials 13 (14), 2040 , 2023
    2023.0
    Citations: 12
  • GELMA/NHA BIOMATERIALS INK FOR BONE TISSUE IN VITRO MODELS
    G Spadaro, M Pitton, T Fischetti, G Graziani, S Fare
    TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A 29 (11-12), 1049-1050 , 2023
    2023.0
  • BIOGENIC AND BIOMIMETIC NANOCOATINGS FOR BONE MODELLING AND REGENERATION
    G Graziani, S Fare, M Boi, E Sassoni, M Sartori, M Fini, S Avnet, ...
    TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A 29 (11-12), 449-450 , 2023
    2023.0
  • 3D Printing and bioprinting of osteomimetic materials for 3D in vitro models and tissue repair applications
    T Fischetti
    alma , 2023
    2023.0
  • Marine biological waste as a source of hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering applications
    G Borciani, T Fischetti, G Ciapetti, M Montesissa, N Baldini, G Graziani
    Ceramics International 49 (2), 1572-1584 , 2023
    2023.0
    Citations: 67
  • 3D printing and bioprinting to model bone cancer: the role of materials and nanoscale cues in directing cell behavior
    T Fischetti, G Di Pompo, N Baldini, S Avnet, G Graziani
    Cancers 13 (16), 4065 , 2021
    2021.0
    Citations: 47
  • Tripolyphosphate-crosslinked chitosan/gelatin biocomposite ink for 3D printing of uniaxial scaffolds
    T Fischetti, N Celikkin, N Contessi Negrini, S Farè, W Swieszkowski
    Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 8, 400 , 2020
    2020.0
    Citations: 95
  • Skeletal muscle regeneration in 3D bioprinted hydrogels
    N Celikkin, T Fischetti, NC Negrini, FH Lin, S Farè, W Święszkowski
    Division of Materials Design , 2018
    2018.0
  • 3D printing of chitosan based scaffold for skeletal muscle tissue regeneration
    T FISCHETTI
    Politecnico di Milano , 2017
    2017.0
  • Biomaterials Advances
    T Fischetti, G Graziani, G Borciani, M Pitton, E Boanini, N Baldini, S Fare

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Tripolyphosphate-crosslinked chitosan/gelatin biocomposite ink for 3D printing of uniaxial scaffolds
    T Fischetti, N Celikkin, N Contessi Negrini, S Farè, W Swieszkowski
    Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 8, 400 , 2020
    2020.0
    Citations: 95
  • Marine biological waste as a source of hydroxyapatite for bone tissue engineering applications
    G Borciani, T Fischetti, G Ciapetti, M Montesissa, N Baldini, G Graziani
    Ceramics International 49 (2), 1572-1584 , 2023
    2023.0
    Citations: 67
  • 3D printing and bioprinting to model bone cancer: the role of materials and nanoscale cues in directing cell behavior
    T Fischetti, G Di Pompo, N Baldini, S Avnet, G Graziani
    Cancers 13 (16), 4065 , 2021
    2021.0
    Citations: 47
  • Advantages and limitations of using cell viability assays for 3D bioprinted constructs
    S Avnet, GD Pompo, G Borciani, T Fischetti, G Graziani, N Baldini
    Biomedical Materials 19 (2), 025033 , 2024
    2024.0
    Citations: 24
  • Incorporation/enrichment of 3D bioprinted constructs by biomimetic nanoparticles: tuning printability and cell behavior in bone models
    T Fischetti, G Borciani, S Avnet, K Rubini, N Baldini, G Graziani, E Boanini
    Nanomaterials 13 (14), 2040 , 2023
    2023.0
    Citations: 12
  • Antibacterial nanostructured silver coating applied on polycaprolactone Melt Electrospinning Writing meshes for wound dressing application
    M Montesissa, M Petretta, G Marchiori, G Graziani, F Perut, E Lopo, ...
    Materials Today Communications, 114379 , 2025
    2025.0
    Citations: 3
  • Combining 3D printing and cryostructuring to tackle infection and spine fusion
    T Fischetti, G Graziani, D Ghezzi, F Kaiser, S Hoelscher‐Doht, ...
    Advanced Materials Technologies 9 (5), 2301301 , 2024
    2024.0
    Citations: 2
  • Development of novel organic/inorganic osteomimetic inks for 3D bioprinted in vitro bone models
    T Fischetti, G Graziani, G Borciani, M Pitton, E Boanini, N Baldini, S Farè
    Biomaterials Advances, 214608 , 2025
    2025.0
    Citations: 1
  • GELMA/NHA BIOMATERIALS INK FOR BONE TISSUE IN VITRO MODELS
    G Spadaro, M Pitton, T Fischetti, G Graziani, S Fare
    TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A 29 (11-12), 1049-1050 , 2023
    2023.0
  • BIOGENIC AND BIOMIMETIC NANOCOATINGS FOR BONE MODELLING AND REGENERATION
    G Graziani, S Fare, M Boi, E Sassoni, M Sartori, M Fini, S Avnet, ...
    TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A 29 (11-12), 449-450 , 2023
    2023.0
  • 3D Printing and bioprinting of osteomimetic materials for 3D in vitro models and tissue repair applications
    T Fischetti
    alma , 2023
    2023.0
  • Skeletal muscle regeneration in 3D bioprinted hydrogels
    N Celikkin, T Fischetti, NC Negrini, FH Lin, S Farè, W Święszkowski
    Division of Materials Design , 2018
    2018.0
  • 3D printing of chitosan based scaffold for skeletal muscle tissue regeneration
    T FISCHETTI
    Politecnico di Milano , 2017
    2017.0
  • Biomaterials Advances
    T Fischetti, G Graziani, G Borciani, M Pitton, E Boanini, N Baldini, S Fare