Microfluidic 3D cell culture: potential application for tissue-based bioassays.
Current fundamental investigations of human biology and the development of therapeutic drugs commonly rely on 2D monolayer cell culture systems. However, 2D cell culture systems do not accurately recapitulate the structure, function or physiology of living tissues, nor the highly complex and dynamic 3D environments in vivo. Microfluidic technology can provide microscale complex structures and well-controlled parameters to mimic the in vivo environment of cells. The combination of microfluidic technology with 3D cell culture offers great potential for in vivo-like tissue-based applications, such as the emerging organ-on-a-chip system. This article will review recent advances in the microfluidic technology for 3D cell culture and their biological applications.
Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. xli4@utep.edu
Xiujun James
XJ
Li
Alejandra V
AV
Valadez
Peng
P
Zuo
Zhihong
Z
Nie
D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000502:physiology; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends