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What are the differences between 2D and 3D cell cultures?
Posted January 28, 2022
Answer
2D and 3D cell cultures are indispensable tools in areas of developmental biology, regenerative medicine, protein production, and clinical in vitro research studies. There are several key differences between the two.
| Basic of comparison | 2D Cell Culture | 3D Cell Culture |
| Definition | Is a culture environment in which cells are grown on flat dishes with coated surfaces to help them adhere and proliferate | Is a culture environment that allows cells to grow and interact with surrounding extracellular framework in three dimensions |
| Resemblance to environment in vivo | Not representative of real cell environments in vivo | More accurate representation of human tissue outside the body |
| Cell shape | Flat and stretched | Natural ellipsoid shape of cell is retained |
| Exposure of cell interface to medium | All cells are equally exposed to components of the medium | Cells are heterogeneously exposed to media components just as in physiological conditions, with the upper layer of the cell receiving higher exposure than the lower layer |
| Cell differentiation | Moderately to poorly differentiated | Well differentiated |
| Drug sensitivity | Cells are more sensitive and drugs show higher efficacy | Cells often show resistance and drugs show lower potency |
| Susceptibility to drug-induced apoptosis | Highly susceptible to drug-induced apoptotic stimuli | Enhanced resistance to drug-induced apoptotic stimuli |
| Advantages | Well established and fast; Inexpensive, easy and convenient to set up; Ealier cell observation and meaurement; Effective for primary assessment; Plenty of reference material available to compare results, high throughput capacity; easier environmental control, cell observation, measurement | More representative of real cell environmnet; Able to exhibit differentiated cellular function; Can better simulate microenvironment conditions in a living organism so cells and organs grow in a more realistic manner; Possible to co-culture 2 or more different cell types; Representation of barrier tissues is greatly enhanced; More realistic way to grow and treat tumor cells; Can better predict in vivo responses to drug treatments |
| Limitations | Not representative of real cell environment; Possible contamination of growth media by expansion of cells; In Vivo responses to drug treatment are not always predictable | expensive; Some types of measurements and microscopic analyses can be challenging because of the larger size of 3D cell cultures; Distributing oxygen and essential nutrients can be a challenge in larger cultures; Relatively lower throughput capacity |
Although establishing a 3D culture is more expensive and more laborious as compared to establishing a 2D culture, it is the preferred technique because it more closely represents human tissue outside the body.