3D cell culture technology has been developed for more than a decade, and various materials and applications are becoming mature, and it has been reported in many literatures that 3D culture can mimic the microenvironments of in vivo cells, which can’t be achieved by 2D culture, with the following advantages:

1. in vivo-like: 3D culture can mimic the growth environment of tissues or organs in vivo, and the cell growth rate is more similar to the natural growth condition and slower than 2D culture.
2. Cell morphology: Cells are able to aggregate or form multi-cellular spheroids rather than flat monolayers.
3. Cell Stiffness: The stiffness of the cells is more similar to the low stiffness cell matrix (> 4000 Pa) in living organisms, allowing the cells to grow closer to natural form.
4. Cell-cell interaction: In vivo-like, proper interactions of cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix, contributes to the formation of multi-cellular spheroids.
5. Gene/protein expression: gene expression, mRNA splicing, topology, and biochemistry of cells, often display closer gene/protein levels compared with in vivo models.
6. Drug responses: Tumor cells in 3D culture showed drug resistance patterns similar to those observed in patients.
7. Access to essential compounds: Access to oxygen, nutrients, metabolites, and signaling molecules are similar to in vivo.

At present, 3D culture can be divided into scaffold based and scaffold free, both of which can culture target cells into multi-cellular spheroids.
Scaffold-based system: Hydrogel、Nanoparticle incorporated, Microsphere, Decellularized, Fibrous and 3D bioprinted.

Scaffold-free system: Liquid overlay, Hanging drop, Spinner flask bioreactor.
Scaffold based and scaffold free systems are widely used by scientists in 3D culture. The Scaffold based system can use natural or synthetic materials as cell culture matrix , like ECMs, inoculate and embed the cultured cells in gel(ex: hydrogel), mimic in vivo organs or tissues, and make the cells grow into spheroids , while Scaffold-free cultures cells in a medium and uses stirring or gravity to help cells grow into spheroids.

Spheroids can mimic real physiological conditions in the body, such as tumor Multi-cellular spheroids . The spheroids in the inner, middle and outer layers are at different growth stages, which will lead to the concentration differences of oxygen, CO2, nutrients, cytokines, signaling molecules and even drugs due to the differences between the inner and outer layers.

Tools 3D culture kit is a Scaffold-based Hydrogel that helps cells form spherical multicellularity, providing a microenvironment suitable for cell growth.
Its fast and convenient operation allows users to complete the gel gelatin within 30 minutes. When we want to recover cells, we do not need to use Trypsin to dissolve the hydrogel, Just add our dissolving buffer to recover cells simply and efficiently for other experiments.

Please find the product and more details, please click TOOLS 3D Culture Plus Kit
Product specification: TTL-3D48 48 rxn & TTL-3D480 480 rxn