Is It Time to Start Transitioning From 2D to 3D Cell Culture?

Cell culture is an important and necessary process in drug discovery, cancer research, as well as stem cell research. Most cells are currently cultured using two-dimensional (2D) methods, but new and improved methods that implement three-dimensional (3D) cell culture techniques suggest compelling evidence that much more advanced experiments can be performed. When performing 3D cell culture experiments, the cell environment can be manipulated to mimic that of a cell in vivo and provide more accurate data about cell-to-cell interactions, tumor characteristics, drug discovery, metabolic profiling, stem cell research, and other types of diseases. Scaffold based techniques such as hydrogel-based support, polymeric…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01DE028351, R03DE028387, R01DE028351-01A1