Two-dimensional cell models have served the scientific community well, but we now need to move to three-dimensional cell models in order to develop the next generation of therapies
- Róisín Owens
The device, which incorporates cells inside a 3D transistor made from a soft sponge-like material inspired by native tissue structure, gives scientists the ability to study cells and tissues in new ways. By enabling cells to grow in three dimensions, the device more accurately mimics the way that cells grow in the body.
The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, say their device could be modified to generate multiple types of organs - a liver on a chip or a heart on a chip, for example – ultimately leading to a body on a chip which would simulate how various treatments affect the body as whole. Their results are reported in the journal Science Advances.
Traditionally, biological studies were (and still are) done in petri dishes, where specific types of cells are grown on a flat surface. While many of the medical advances made since the 1950s, including the polio vaccine, have originated in petri dishes, these two-dimensional environments do not accurately represent the native three-dimensional environments of human cells, and can, in fact, lead to misleading information and failures of drugs in clinical trials.
“Two-dimensional cell models have served the scientific community well, but we now need to move to three-dimensional cell models in order to develop the next generation of therapies,” said Dr Róisín Owens from Cambridge’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and the study’s senior author.
“Three-dimensional cell cultures can help us identify new treatments and know which ones to avoid if we can accurately monitor them,” said Dr Charalampos Pitsalidis, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, and the study’s first author.
Image: Tubistor device
Credit: University of Cambridge
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge