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Fig. 3. | Cancer Cell International

Fig. 3.

From: Current methods for studying metastatic potential of tumor cells

Fig. 3.

3D methods principles overview. 3D methods can be divided into spherical and non-spherical types based on the shape of the formed cellular structure. Various types of cells can be combined in almost all 3D techniques to better model the natural situation in a human organism. Spherical methods (on the left) use ECM mimicking mixtures to grow spheroids originating from different entities under non-adherent conditions. The mature spheroids can be used in A invasion assays, where tumor cells are monitored as they invade into an artificial ECM or in B chip methods, where spheroids are placed into a microfluidic device and the influence of media flow or interaction with other cell types (e.g. endothelial cells) through adjacent side channels are monitored. Non-spherical methods (on the right) group layered cell assays and organoids and combine environments for cell structure cultivation. C A multilayered tumor cell model is typically used for modeling lung tumor metastasis in vitro: tumor cells can intravasate into the “blood stream” and move to “distant sites”. D Cells-in-Gel-in-Paper mimicks multilayered structures with its natural gradients, which influence the phenotype of cells and their movement toward ideal conditions. E The state-of-the-art method is the production of tumor organoids grown in ECM components, as they partly maintain the structure and functions of the original tissue and have many research applications. The combination of organoids representing various organs in chambers on one microfluidic chip models tumor cells metastasizing to distant organs

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