Detall

Prof. PhD Lisa Elviri
Food and Drug Department, University of Parma

Resum:

Cells in a tissue, organ or organism are exposed to complex biological environments. Conversely to classic culture systems, these environments are not flat, but three-dimensional (3D). Consequently, two-dimensional (2D) tissue culture assays are far from accurate. Despite numerous attempts to create three dimensional culture systems better mimicking the environmental conditions that cells face in vivo, cell culture and the understanding of biological phenomena are still extensively performed in 2D substrates. These surfaces favor a loss of the original cell phenotype (dedifferentiation) during culture, resulting in a different cell behavior evidenced by an abnormal cell activity (e.g. metabolic activity, proliferation, and production of extra-cellular matrix). Furthermore, an understanding of the mechanisms behind cellular processes after in vitro culturing on 2D surfaces is still lacking. These problems contribute to the poor correlation between in vitro and in vivo observations.

New in vitro 3D models are expected to predict with more sensitivity and specificity the behavior of a tissue or an organ function, as compared to classical molecular and 2D in vitro assays.
Here, a short overview about the combination efficacy of 3D printing, biomaterials and mass spectrometry for the development and application of innovative 3D diagnostic tools for in-vitro tests is provided.