Reassessing the scope and definition of 4D tissue bioprinting

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Reassessing the scope and definition of 4D tissue bioprinting

Four-dimensional bioprinting of tissues goes beyond cellular constructs that evolve or mature over time. It should incorporate time as an active design parameter, enabling programmed and predictable transformations. This requires implementing shape-morphing behaviour, either within materials or cell–matrix composites, to control the construct’s transition in form or size.

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Fig. 1: Three-dimensional versus four-dimensional tissue bioprinting.

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Acknowledgements

T.D. is the Closner Family Chair for Next Generation Organ and Tissue Implants. The work was partially supported by the ERC Consolidator Grant (101001242) and the Israeli Science Foundation Breakthrough Research Grants (1418/24).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ester Sapir Baruch, Eric Silberman, Assaf Shapira & Tal Dvir

  2. The Jan Koum Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ester Sapir Baruch, Eric Silberman, Assaf Shapira & Tal Dvir

  3. Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ester Sapir Baruch, Eric Silberman, Assaf Shapira & Tal Dvir

  4. Sagol School for Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Tal Dvir

  5. School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Tal Dvir

Authors

  1. Ester Sapir Baruch
  2. Eric Silberman
  3. Assaf Shapira
  4. Tal Dvir

Contributions

All authors discussed and drafted the manuscript, designed the figure, and revised and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tal Dvir.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Baruch, E.S., Silberman, E., Shapira, A. et al. Reassessing the scope and definition of 4D tissue bioprinting. Nat Rev Bioeng (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-026-00402-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-026-00402-0