Abstract

3D Cultures of Cancer Cell Lines – A Few Applications

M Ravi, Professor , Sri Ramachandra University

Cell cultures are important study material for the variety of advantages that they offer. Cancer cell lines have contributed immensely in understanding the complex physiology of cancers. They are excellent material for studies as they offer homogenous samples without individual variations and can be utilised with ease and flexibility. Also, the number of assays and end-points one can study is almost limitless; with the advantage of improvising, modifying or altering several variables and methods. An important advancement in cell culture techniques has been the introduction of three dimensional (3D) culture systems. Literally, a new dimension to cancer research has been achieved by the advent of 3D cell culture techniques. Such cultures have proven to be closer to in vivo natural systems, thus proving to be useful material for many applications. This culture approach increased many folds the ways in which cancer cell lines can be utilised for understanding complex cancer biology. 3D cell culture techniques are now the preferred way of using cancer cell lines to bridge the gap between the ‘absolute in vitro’ and ‘true in vivo’. The aspects of cancer biology that 3D cell culture systems have contributed include morphology, microenvironment, gene and protein expression, invasion/migration/metastasis, angiogenesis, tumour metabolism and drug discovery, testing chemotherapeutic agents, adaptive responses and cancer stem cells. Some of these aspects are presented here, as can be useful for cancer research.