Summary
Published in Cell and Tissue Research (2018), this peer-reviewed study used 3D Petri Dish® micro-molds to form scaffold-free 3D microtissues. Full citation: Guo, Xiaoling, et al. Enrichment of cancer stem cells by agarose multi-well dishes and 3D spheroid culture
Enrichment of cancer stem cells by agarose multi-well dishes and 3D spheroid culture
Research Overview
As cancer stem cell-targeted therapy develops, rapid enrichment and purification of those cells has become crucial. Existing methods — low-adhesion culture, low-oxygen culture, chemotherapy stimulation, side population sorting — cannot enrich the desired cells quickly.
This study adopted a different approach, using agarose multi-well dishes made with rubber micro-molds to form cancer cells into spheroids, efficiently enriching cancer stem cells in meaningful quantity. The scaffold-free spheroid environment itself performs the selection, without drug stimulation or sorting equipment.
Key Discoveries
- Agarose micro-mold spheroid culture used to rapidly enrich cancer stem cells
- Avoids chemotherapy stimulation and side-population sorting required by other methods
- Spheroid microenvironment itself performs the enrichment
