Altmann B, Welle A, Giselbrecht S, Truckenmüller R, Gottwald E. The famous versus the inconvenient - or the dawn and the rise of 3D-culture systems. World J Stem Cells 2009; 1(1): 43-48 [PMID: 21607106 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v1.i1.43]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Eric Gottwald, Institute for Biological Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. eric.gottwald@kit.edu
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World J Stem Cells. Dec 31, 2009; 1(1): 43-48 Published online Dec 31, 2009. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v1.i1.43
The famous versus the inconvenient - or the dawn and the rise of 3D-culture systems
Brigitte Altmann, Alexander Welle, Stefan Giselbrecht, Roman Truckenmüller, Eric Gottwald
Brigitte Altmann, Alexander Welle, Stefan Giselbrecht, Eric Gottwald, Institute for Biological Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Roman Truckenmüller, University of Twente, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Department of Tissue Regeneration, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
Author contributions: Altmann B performed bioreactor experiments and wrote the draft of the manuscript; Giselbrecht S and Truckenmüller R manufactured the KITChips and contributed substantially to the chapter 3D-matrices; Welle A and Giselbrecht S performed the surface modifications of the KITChips; Welle A performed the experiments with polylactic-co-glycolic acid and contributed substantially to the chapter 3D-matrices; Gottwald E performed bioreactor experiments and was responsible for the concept and final approval of the manuscript.
Supported by The European Union Grant STREP NMP3-CT-29005-013811 (to Welle A); the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Grant 03ZIK-465 (to Altmann B), Germany
Correspondence to: Dr. Eric Gottwald, Institute for Biological Interfaces, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. eric.gottwald@kit.edu
Telephone: +49-7247-822504 Fax: +49-7247-825546
Received: November 28, 2009 Revised: December 9, 2009 Accepted: December 16, 2009 Published online: December 31, 2009
Abstract
One of the greatest impacts on in vitro cell biology was the introduction of three-dimensional (3D) culture systems more than six decades ago and this era may be called the dawn of 3D-tissue culture. Although the advantages were obvious, this field of research was a “sleeping beauty” until the 1970s when multicellular spheroids were discovered as ideal tumor models. With this rebirth, organotypical culture systems became valuable tools and this trend continues to increase. While in the beginning, simple approaches, such as aggregation culture techniques, were favored due to their simplicity and convenience, now more sophisticated systems are used and are still being developed. One of the boosts in the development of new culture techniques arises from elaborate manufacturing and surface modification techniques, especially micro and nano system technologies that have either improved dramatically or have evolved very recently. With the help of these tools, it will soon be possible to generate even more sophisticated and more organotypic-like culture systems. Since 3D perfused or superfused systems are much more complex to set up and maintain compared to use of petri dishes and culture flasks, the added value of 3D approaches still needs to be demonstrated.
