3D Cell Culture
Moving toward more physiologically relevant cell cultures
Introduction
Recent advances in the automation of 3D cell culture and fabrication have expanded the number of application areas in which 3D cell culture can used . Whether its drug screening, tissue engineering, disease modeling or cell therapies, 3D cell culture can accelerate discovery efforts. Additionally, 3D cell culture can be used to create tissue models, such as spheroids, micro tissues, organoids and bioprinted constructs, using scaffold-free or scaffold-based methods.
2D VS. 3D CELL CULTURE
Three-dimensional cell cultures offer multiple advantages over 2D cell cultures, including the precise geometrical arrangement of multicellular constructs that can better recapitulate the native 3D human physiology. Previous studies have shown that 3D cultures support more relevant cell-cell interactions and demonstrate differences in cell proliferation, morphology, oxygenation, drug and nutrient uptake, excretion and junction proteins when compared to 2D cultures.
EXTRUSION-BASED BIOPRINTING
Extrusion-based bioprinters, such as the BIO X and BIO X6, offer tremendous flexibility when designing 3D cell culture systems or disease models, and when engineering tissues. See disease models and tissue engineering to learn more. Researchers can choose between a variety of tissue-specific bioinks and fabricate constructs with up to six materials or cell types; they can also precisely control geometries and the spatial patterning of cells or materials in an automated manner. Additionally, extrusion-based bioprinters enable high-throughput fabrication of micro tissues and spheroids within bioinks and co-culture organoids.
LIGHT-BASED BIOPRINTING
Light-based bioprinters, like the Lumen X and the Holograph X, provide superior resolution, allowing users to bioprint vascular networks within bioprinted tissues, to effectively fabricate vascularized organized arrays and to develop co-cultures.
High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture Systems
Creating micro tissues with even greater speed
With even greater speed, bio-dispensing systems such as the I.DOT and I.DOT Mini create scaffold-free and scaffold-based organoids or micro tissues. Common applications include the dispensing of adherent cells into culture well plates or cancer cells for tumor spheroid formation.
NON-CONTACT LIQUID HANDLING TECHNOLOGY
The Immediate Drop on Demand Technology (I.DOT) uses non-contact methods to dispense cells without impacting viability and minimizes dead volume to reduce waste; the I.DOT also offers temperature-controlled fabrication with temperature-sensitive bioinks.
LOW VOLUME DISPENSING IN THE NANOLITERS
Additionally, the I.DOT can be used to dispense other ingredients, such as drugs, growth factors and bioactive compounds with precise nanoliter volumes, which allows for enhanced disease modeling or drug screening with your 3D cell cultures.
AUTOMATE COMPLETE WORKFLOWS
Using live cell-imaging microscopes such as the CELLCYTE X automates complete workflows from fabrication and stimulation to the analysis of your 3D cell cultures. Learn more about live-cell imaging here.