3D Spheroid Model Introduction

Spheroid models play a pivotal role in drug discovery research due to their ability to accurately replicate complex in vivo environments, making them indispensable tools for various applications, such as drug screening, disease modeling, and understanding cellular interactions. Equipped with a profound comprehension of individualized requirements, a team of highly experienced experts at Creative Biolabs is confident in delivering tailor-made solutions that perfectly suit your needs.

What Are Spheroids?

Spheroid is formed by the scattered single cells aggregating from the loose form to the dense form in the 3D culture system. It has drawn extensive attention due to the advantages compared to 2D cell culture. 3D multicellular spheroids (MCSs) can better simulate the structure and function of tissues in vivo, and they have been highly used in cancer research because of their accuracy in mimicking the tumor microenvironment.

Fig 1. The Multicellular Spheroid (MCS) Formation Process.¹

2D vs. 3D Cell Culture

Characteristic	2D	3D
Cell Morphology	Flat and extensible	Natural cellular structure
Interaction and communication	Limited cell-cell communication	Cell-cell and cell-matrix 3D interaction
Predictivity	Low	High
Matrix stiffness	High	Low
*Results represent in vivo* study**	Limited	Highly representative
Treatment sensitivity	More sensitive	Less sensitive
Viability	Sensitive to cytotoxins	High viability and less sensitivity to external factors
Applications	Limited	Various

Applications of 3D Spheroid Models

Tumor Research

Spheroid models for tumor research in vitro include matrix-embedded culture, multicellular layers, MSCs, and hollow fiber bioreactor. MSCs have become an essential tool because heterogeneous spheroids can be formed by co-culturing with a variety of cells. Besides, MCSs can simulate the characteristics of metastasis, angiogenesis, and invasion.

Drug Screening

Traditionally, animal models are recognized as the most ideal models for in vitro studies in drug screening, and a 2D cell culture is required before applying for an animal study. Spheroid models, however, fixed the limitation of cell-cell interaction in the 2D culture system, and the high costs involved in the animal experiments.

Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering aims to create functional living tissues and organs in vitro, and to overcome the limitations of traditional tissue replacement therapies. Hydrogels have been broadly used to form scaffolds due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability.

Stem Cell Research

Spheroid models have been increasingly used in stem cell research due to their ability to mimic in vivo tissue microenvironment. Stem cells grown in 3D culture systems are found to exhibit higher viability and maintain their characteristics, such as regeneration, differentiation, and proliferation.

Creative Biolabs is the world's leading contract research company, providing you with comprehensive solutions of 3D biology technologies and customized services. We offer a variety of spheroid models, which including but not limited to:

Related Services

Building upon existing spheroid models, we are pleased to introduce a range of supporting services listed below, designed to enhance and accelerate your drug discovery process. For additional information, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Reference

Shen, H.; et al. Recent advances in three-dimensional multicellular spheroid culture and future development. Micromachines (Basel). 2021, 12(1): 96.

Research Model

3D Biology Based Biomarker Discovery

3D Biology Based Drug Discovery and Development

3D Biology Based Toxicity Evaluation

Supporting Assays

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