What You Will Learn in This Chapter
The cultivation of mammalian cells in 3D is becoming increasingly important, as it becomes clear that cells display different morphology, signaling, gene and ultimately protein expression in comparison to conventional 2D cultivation. There is a wide variety of materials available for the 3D cultivation of cells, ranging from hydrogels that can be used to encapsulate cells, to porous 3D matrices, which can be seeded with cells. In this chapter, we will review the range of materials available for 3D cell culture and will discuss their preparation, advantages, and limitations. We structure the discussion along the different ways in which cells are introduced into the matrix. Also, we lightly touch upon fabrication methods for creating porous matrices without going into a general discussion of fabrication methods. The chapter concludes with aspects to consider when selecting materials for 3D cell cultivation.
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Korzhikov-Vlakh, V., Pepelanova, I. (2021). Biological, Natural, and Synthetic 3D Matrices. In: Kasper, C., Egger, D., Lavrentieva, A. (eds) Basic Concepts on 3D Cell Culture . Learning Materials in Biosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66749-8_4
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