Applications and Utility of Three-Dimensional In Vitro Cell Culture for Therapeutics

Abstract

The field of 3D cell culture and its applications is rooted in the understanding of cell biology, tissue engineering, tissue morphology, disease mechanisms, and drug action. For many years, traditional 2D cell culture systems have been widely used but have proven to be limited in their ability to accurately replicate the complex microenvironment of tissues. This often results in issues with cell proliferation, aggregation, and differentiation. 3D cell culture systems have emerged as a solution to this problem and have demonstrated a more accurate simulation of in vivo physiology. This has had a major impact on drug discovery and includes the use of spheroids, organoids, scaffolds, hydrogels, and organs. This review has addressed fundamental questions and exploited utility in 3D in vitro mode of cell culture in view of therapeutics.