3DCell culture technology provides cells with a microenvironment that is closer to the living conditions in the body, making it feel like "at home". This technology can be applied not only to cell-based high-throughput drug screening, but also to medicine.
3DCell culture, cell growth closer to the in vivo environment——It feels like“Like at home”Therefore, researchers3DCultivation techniques obtain data close to the actual situation in vivo through high-throughput screening, toxin screening, and other screening methods.
It's hard to imagine what it would be like to conduct a cell-based experiment in the early 20th century before cell culture technology existed. If there were no traditional cell culture techniques (on the surface of synthetic resins)2DThe widespread use of cell culture under certain conditions may result in insufficient cell experimental materials for both clinical and academic researchers. However, despite the good uses of traditional cell culture techniques, they still have limitations. Just like Maryland, USALife TechnologiesThe company's supervisorMark PowersAs the doctor said,Traditional cell culture techniques have not done enough to simulate the living environment inside cells.3DThe invention of cell culture technology is aimed at providing cells with a microenvironment that is closer to the living conditions in the body during the cell culture process.This article will provide a detailed introduction in the following sections3DExamples and Applications of Cell Culture Technology.
3Dfollower
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Ohio State University, USA,Shang-Tian YangThe doctor has already used it3DCell culture technology is used to cultivate many different types of human derived cells, including human embryonic stem cells and colon cancer cells. The basic material he uses to simulate in vivo growth conditions in vitro is a polyethylene terephthalate fiber——A fiber material that is non degradable, biocompatible, and non textile.His experiment used3DOne of the main reasons for cell culture technology is3DCell morphology ratio obtained from cultivation2DThe cultivation is more advanced, and the morphology of cells often affects their functions (such as signal transduction).YangIt has already begun to pass through him3DCell culture systems are used to screen anti-cancer drugs. But he also compared it2DCultivate and3DCultivate cells against known anti colon cancer drugs——5-Fluorouracil——To test his reaction3DDevelop the effectiveness of the system.YangSay:“Overall,3DThe cultured cells have stronger resistance to drugs, partly due to differences in cell cycle behavior, differential expression of cell markers, and so on”. From these experiments, he inferred that generally speaking,3DThe drug response of cultured cells is closer to the situation in vivo, therefore, drug screening based on this is more reliable.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute（RPI）Director and Professor of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary ResearchJonathan DordickDoctor's use3DCell culture serves as a screening tool for lead optimization and is used to detect potential drug toxicity in cells representing different organs of humans on culture dishes.DordickCell culture is generally carried out on a gel like, biocompatible and convenient alginate matrix. The reason why alginate is easy to use is that researchers can adjust its gel by adding calcium or barium. Moreover, the use of alginate makesDordickAdding growth factors to the culture medium becomes possible; For example, when his group started cultivating stem cells, this feature became very important.
In the following example of microfluidic technology,DordickCollaborators with him at the University of CaliforniaDouglas ClarkInvented a method similar to micro matrix arrangement for conducting experiments on glass microscope slides3DThe technology of cell culture. On some carriers, it is possible to20-40The lattice form of sodium alginate matrix contains up to1000Different cell cultures. Due to the highly hydrophobic surface of these powerful glass slides, the lattice on the slides will form hemispherical beads on the alginate matrix, thereby3DWhile cultivating cells, it also limits the communication between different points in the lattice. In this way, the cells are confined to the alginate beads and grow through the provided nutrients.DordickIn his case3DUnder the cultivation system, different human cells and animal cells have been cultured separately, including the original and transformed ones. The original human cell lines include hepatocytes, astrocytes, and cardiomyocytes, while transformed cell cultures include hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cancer, breast cancer, and astrocytomas.
promisingGEM
Of course3DThe application of cell culture technology is not limited to academic research institutions,3DThe cultivation of technology for customers in the pharmaceutical industry is a good example.Charlottesville, Virginia, USAGlobal Cell Solutions （GSC）The company has already3DThe cultivation of cells has developed a method using beads（bead）The substrate for the carrier. This type of bead or microcarrier is also known asGEMAccording to the CEO of the companyUday Gupta，GEMCombining alginate and protein matrix skeleton, it has the characteristics of clear optical background and non spontaneous fluorescence, and its diameter is75~100Within the micrometer range. Many standard and related laboratory cell lines are included in these beads（beads）Has undergone cultivation on the surface or core. Besides,GuptaAnother good feature is that we can use different proteins——Laminin, gelatin or basement membrane protein——Wrap the alginate. The importance of this feature lies in the fact that as the field of drug discovery enters the era of stem cells, these special packages will play an extremely important role in the cultivation of cells during the drug discovery process.pHValue andCO2The cultivation conditions are determined byHamiltoncompanyBioLevitatorProvided by the instrument.
according toHamiltoncompany productsJason MarchSaid,BioLevitatorInstruments andGEMThe combination of technology enables pharmaceutical companies to conduct a large number of cell cultures continuously in drug screening experiments. He also said, 'Another characteristic of the combination of technology is that we don't have to use trypsin to process cells anymore.'——due toGEMIn fact, we can directly absorb and transfer cells cultured on microcarriers based on their various characteristics96The orifice plate is ready for our next experiment without wasting time on trypsin treatment and without damaging the cells. As an option, researchers can also simply useGCSThe produced lysate is used to dissociate cells.GEMTechnology itself2005Commercial sales have already been made this year,BioLevitatorAlso in the midst ofbetaIn testing.
Overall,3DCell culture technology has greatly improved the accuracy of cell experiments in basic scientific research and pharmaceutical research. As the quantity and complexity of cultivation materials increase,3DThe application of cell culture technology will also increase accordingly——As a means to stimulate cells“It feels more like being at home”The reward.