Summary October 16th, 2014
In vitro mammalian cell culture has served as an invaluable tool in cell biology for several decades. Classically, monolayer cultures of adherent cells were grown on flat and rigid two-dimensional (2D) substrates, such as polystyrene or glass. However, many cells, when isolated from tissues and placed onto stiff planar 2D cell culture surfaces, such as tissue culture plastic, become progressively flatter, divide aberrantly, and lose their differentiated phenotype1,2. While these two-dimensional cell culture studies have played a pivotal role in furthering our understanding of many biological processes, they do not emulate in vivo conditions.
