Out of Flatworld

Abstract

BioTechniquesVol. 48, No. 4 Cell Culture: IntroductionOpen AccessOut of FlatworldThe EditorsThe Editors*E-mail Address: bioeditor@biotechniques.comBioTechniquesSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:3 Apr 2018https://doi.org/10.2144/000113420AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Cell culture has become an integral part of both basic research and clinical drug development. The ability to isolate cells, maintain them in culture, and study their biology in vitro has already opened windows into the cellular world. But despite the tremendous number of papers published on culturing cells, the impressive array of commercially available media and reagents, and the utility of cell lines for drug discovery, there still exists a need to develop new and better approaches for culturing a myriad of cell types. With this goal in mind, advances are being made in laboratories around the globe. In this focus section, we have put together a series of articles that examine these needs and describe these recent advances in cell culture technology.Although rich in basic information, it has become clear that culturing cells on flat, plastic dishes is not the optimal approach for understanding how cells work in vivo. Cells in their natural environment interact with a number of factors—including other cells and a variety of chemical and mechanical cues—to drive essential biological processes. It is becoming apparent that understanding processes such as metastasis or stem cell differentiation will require the emulation of cells' microenvironments as accurately as possible in a cell culture dish. But this is no simple task. Matrices that support 3-D growth, as well as isolated growth factors and other chemicals, are now available to add to cell cultures, but determining the optimal combination of these factors to meet certain goals— such as driving differentiation or increasing cell motility—is as much an art at the moment as it is science.Matthias Lutolf and Stefan Kobel examine this issue directly in a review article focusing on the use of high-throughput methodologies to better define stem cell niches. The authors describe advances in microfabrication and biomaterials that are creating cellular microenvironments in wells and dishes that enable a deeper understanding of stem cell biology. From co-culturing cells on three-dimensional scaffolds to exploring the effects of force on single stem cells, Lutolf and Kobel provide an elegant and comprehensive over view of new ways to look at stem cell life in vitro.New stem cell culturing tools, loosening restrictions on the use of embryonic stem cells, and the expansion of induced pluripotent cells have all increased accessibility to stem cell research. And, with the help of stem cell banks, scientists who had avoided using these cells previously are now entering the fray. In a special news article, Jeffrey Perkel takes a look at the emergence of these banks around the globe and examines the lengths to which some go to validate their cell lines for researchers. Although there are no set standard tests yet for such validation efforts by banks, researchers from the International Stem Cell Initiative discuss their ongoing attempts to arrive at a consensus on a set of validation tests for human embryonic and adult stem cell lines.This growing interest in using stem cells, coupled with their increasing availability through stem cell banks and the development of new high-throughput culture approaches as described by Lutolf and Kobel, is making access to more advanced cell culture platforms a reality for all researchers. Expanded numbers of these culture systems and approaches will allow investigators to study their cells under more life-like conditions, and thereby extract the critical information that will not only expand our understanding of cell biology and cell life in diverse microenvironments, but eventually lead to novel therapeutic applications.In the end, we are confident that the articles presented in this focus will provide readers with a strong over view of the latest advances in cell culture technologies, both for stem cells and various other cell types, and provide insight on where these advances will take us in the future.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 48, No. 4 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics History Published online 3 April 2018 Published in print April 2010 Information© 2010 Author(s)PDF download