Eckes Beate, Wang Fang, Rittié Laure, Scherr Gabriele, Zigrino Paola
Department of Dermatology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1627:223-233. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7113-8_15.
Investigation of cell function is often hampered by the complexity of the tissue context. This problem is circumvented by isolating cells from tissues and analyzing their behavior in culture. Most cell types are cultured as monolayers on planar, rigid Petri dishes, an environment that does not reflect the spatial, three-dimensional cellular environment in vivo. Culture in three-dimensional collagen lattices has been devised to optimize in vitro culture conditions and to provide a more physiologic "in vivo-like" environment. Collagen lattices can easily be manipulated to suit diverse cell types and to provide variable mechanical forces. Cells can be imaged in such surroundings, and gene expression as well as protein production and activity can be monitored.
细胞功能的研究常常受到组织环境复杂性的阻碍。通过从组织中分离细胞并分析它们在培养中的行为，可以规避这个问题。大多数细胞类型作为单层培养在平面、刚性的培养皿上，这种环境并不能反映体内的空间三维细胞环境。三维胶原晶格培养已被设计用于优化体外培养条件，并提供更接近生理状态的“类体内”环境。胶原晶格可以很容易地进行操作，以适应不同的细胞类型并提供可变的机械力。细胞可以在这样的环境中成像，并且可以监测基因表达以及蛋白质的产生和活性。
