2D and 3D Cell Cultures - a Comparison of Different Types of Cancer Cell Cultures

Overview

Journal Arch Med Sci

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2018 Jul 14

PMID 30002710

Citations 615

Authors

Marta Kapalczynska

Tomasz Kolenda

Weronika Przybyla

Maria Zajaczkowska

Anna Teresiak

Violetta Filas

Matthew Ibbs

Renata Blizniak

Lukasz Luczewski

Katarzyna Lamperska

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cell culture is a widely used tool for improving our understanding of cell biology, tissue morphology, and mechanisms of diseases, drug action, protein production and the development of tissue engineering. Most research regarding cancer biology is based on experiments using two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures . However, 2D cultures have many limitations, such as the disturbance of interactions between the cellular and extracellular environments, changes in cell morphology, polarity, and method of division. These disadvantages led to the creation of models which are more closely able to mimic conditions . One such method is three-dimensional culture (3D). Optimisation of the culture conditions may allow for a better understanding of cancer biology and facilitate the study of biomarkers and targeting therapies. In this review, we compare 2D and 3D cultures as well as different versions of 3D cultures.

Citing Articles

Computational and experimental advances in liver-on-a-chip technology for cancer research: a systematic review.

Carvalho V, Ferreira M, Rodrigues R, Teixeira S, Lima R Biophys Rev. 2025; 17(1):151-167.

PMID: 40060016 PMC: 11885749. DOI: 10.1007/s12551-024-01260-z.

Cell culture in salivary gland tumor research: molecular insights of pathogenic targets and personalized medicine.

Goncalves M, Lavareze L, Egal E, Altemani A, Mariano F Cytotechnology. 2025; 77(2):70.

PMID: 40028370 PMC: 11868036. DOI: 10.1007/s10616-025-00726-6.

3D bioprinting for the construction of drug testing models-development strategies and regulatory concerns.

Mallya D, Gadre M, Varadharajan S, Vasanthan K Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2025; 13:1457872.

PMID: 40028291 PMC: 11868281. DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1457872.

Evaluation of Drug Permeation Enhancement by Using In Vitro and Ex Vivo Models.

Steyn J, Haasbroek-Pheiffer A, Pheiffer W, Weyers M, van Niekerk S, Hamman J Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2025; 18(2).

PMID: 40006008 PMC: 11859300. DOI: 10.3390/ph18020195.

Antitumor Potential of Different Treatment Approaches Using Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma on Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Models: In Vitro Study.

Pavlovic O, Lazarevic M, Jakovljevic A, Skoro N, Puac N, Mojsilovic S Biomedicines. 2025; 13(2).

PMID: 40002856 PMC: 11853493. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines13020443.

References

Cawkill D, Eaglestone S . Evolution of cell-based reagent provision. Drug Discov Today. 2007; 12(19-20):820-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2007.08.014. View

Goers L, Freemont P, Polizzi K . Co-culture systems and technologies: taking synthetic biology to the next level. J R Soc Interface. 2014; 11(96). PMC: 4032528. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2014.0065. View

Marushima H, Shibata S, Asakura T, Matsuura T, Maehashi H, Ishii Y . Three-dimensional culture promotes reconstitution of the tumor-specific hypoxic microenvironment under TGFβ stimulation. Int J Oncol. 2011; 39(5):1327-36. DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2011.1142. View

Polson A, Fuji R . The successes and limitations of preclinical studies in predicting the pharmacodynamics and safety of cell-surface-targeted biological agents in patients. Br J Pharmacol. 2012; 166(5):1600-2. PMC: 3419903. DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2012.01916.x. View

Benya P, SHAFFER J . Dedifferentiated chondrocytes reexpress the differentiated collagen phenotype when cultured in agarose gels. Cell. 1982; 30(1):215-24. DOI: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90027-7. View

Fischbach C, Chen R, Matsumoto T, Schmelzle T, Brugge J, Polverini P . Engineering tumors with 3D scaffolds. Nat Methods. 2007; 4(10):855-60. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth1085. View

Sourla A, Doillon C, Koutsilieris M . Three-dimensional type I collagen gel system containing MG-63 osteoblasts-like cells as a model for studying local bone reaction caused by metastatic cancer cells. Anticancer Res. 1996; 16(5A):2773-80. View

Haycock J . 3D cell culture: a review of current approaches and techniques. Methods Mol Biol. 2010; 695:1-15. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-60761-984-0_1. View

Kleinman H, Martin G . Matrigel: basement membrane matrix with biological activity. Semin Cancer Biol. 2005; 15(5):378-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2005.05.004. View

10.

Dawson E, Mapili G, Erickson K, Taqvi S, Roy K . Biomaterials for stem cell differentiation. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2007; 60(2):215-28. DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2007.08.037. View

11.

Lo W, Yu C, Chiou G, Chen Y, Huang P, Chien C . MicroRNA-200c attenuates tumour growth and metastasis of presumptive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma stem cells. J Pathol. 2011; 223(4):482-95. DOI: 10.1002/path.2826. View

12.

Vinci M, Gowan S, Boxall F, Patterson L, Zimmermann M, Court W . Advances in establishment and analysis of three-dimensional tumor spheroid-based functional assays for target validation and drug evaluation. BMC Biol. 2012; 10:29. PMC: 3349530. DOI: 10.1186/1741-7007-10-29. View

13.

Chen S, Chang Y, Nieh S, Liu C, Yang C, Lin Y . Nonadhesive culture system as a model of rapid sphere formation with cancer stem cell properties. PLoS One. 2012; 7(2):e31864. PMC: 3281010. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031864. View

14.

Heppner G . Tumor heterogeneity. Cancer Res. 1984; 44(6):2259-65. View

15.

Ou D, He Y, Chen R, Teng J, Wang H, Zeng D . Three-dimensional co-culture facilitates the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into mature cardiomyocytes. J Cell Biochem. 2011; 112(12):3555-62. DOI: 10.1002/jcb.23283. View

16.

Weaver V, Lelievre S, Lakins J, Chrenek M, Jones J, Giancotti F . beta4 integrin-dependent formation of polarized three-dimensional architecture confers resistance to apoptosis in normal and malignant mammary epithelium. Cancer Cell. 2002; 2(3):205-16. PMC: 2788997. DOI: 10.1016/s1535-6108(02)00125-3. View

17.

Breslin S, ODriscoll L . Three-dimensional cell culture: the missing link in drug discovery. Drug Discov Today. 2012; 18(5-6):240-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2012.10.003. View

18.

Stevens M, George J . Exploring and engineering the cell surface interface. Science. 2005; 310(5751):1135-8. DOI: 10.1126/science.1106587. View

19.

Semino C, Merok J, Crane G, Panagiotakos G, Zhang S . Functional differentiation of hepatocyte-like spheroid structures from putative liver progenitor cells in three-dimensional peptide scaffolds. Differentiation. 2003; 71(4-5):262-70. DOI: 10.1046/j.1432-0436.2003.7104503.x. View

20.

Bian L, Zhai D, Mauck R, Burdick J . Coculture of human mesenchymal stem cells and articular chondrocytes reduces hypertrophy and enhances functional properties of engineered cartilage. Tissue Eng Part A. 2010; 17(7-8):1137-45. PMC: 3063700. DOI: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2010.0531. View