Three-dimensional cell culture has advanced in recent years to the point that it can effectively simulate important aspects of an in vivo environment, such as cell-to-cell, cell-extracellular matrix, and cell-to-organ interactions. This, among other things, can offer considerably more precise information on tumor traits, drug discovery, metabolic profiling, etc. Stem cells, autologous, allogenic, xenogenic, progenitor, and multipotent cells can all be generated in 3D cell culture. One can use scaffold and non-scaffold-based strategies to alter cell differentiation and proliferation in order to produce a multi-layer 3D cell construct.
Polymeric hard and biologic scaffolds, as well as micropatterned surface microplates, are examples of scaffold-based techniques. Polymeric hard scaffolds are prefabricated scaffolds or matrices that imitate in vivo extracellular matrices. Cells multiply and migrate within the scaffold web, eventually transforming into structures that are closed to the tissues from which they originated. Moreover, scaffolds can be made from biological components such as collagen and/or laminin, creating an optimal milieu of soluble growth factors, hormones, and other compounds that cells interact with in vivo. Finally, the micropatterned surface microplate approach uses plates with micrometer-sized compartments to allow cluster growth by adhesion molecule selection.
Moreover, widespread non-scaffold-based approaches consist of spheroid microplates with an ultra-low attachment (ULA) coating and hanging drop microplates. In contrast to conventional cell culture plates, which have a flat bottom, hanging drop plate well bottoms have an aperture that enables cell aggregation to form a spheroid structure. It can create a multi-cell tissue that is properly rounded for spheroid microplates utilizing hanging drop plates. In order to promote spheroid formation, the ULA surface coating placed to the well bottom reduces cell adhesion. The geometry of the well bottoms, which can be either round, tampered, or V-shaped, ensures the consistent formation of a single spheroid.
Overall, using a 3D culture model can stimulate a microenvironment that is specific to a tissue or pathophysiological disease, making it ideal to find possible drug targets. In a similar vein,, Visikol provides cutting-edge drug discovery solutions such as 3D cell culture assays and tissue imaging high content screening, AI solutions for histological analysis of tissue sections, and much more. To learn more about Visikol’s services, please contact us.