Clusteroid

A clusteroid is a method of producing 3D cell cultures that was first developed in 2019. Clusteroids are grown as not true spheroids but as dense clusters of cells in an aqueous two-phase system of water-in-water Pickering emulsion. The cells are incapsulated by mixing two aqueous solutions containing the incompatible polymers: Polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution as a continuous phase and dextran solution (DEX) as a dispersed phase, using whey protein as a stabiliser. Clusteoids as an in vitro model are more accurate to the complexities of in vivo, and aren't as susceptible to some of the problems 2D cultures present, for example; A large problem in culturing cells as a 2D monolayer is confluence as most cell lines used in research tend to decline in growth and health above 80% due to competition between cells for nutrients and oxygen in their growth media. A unique problem in non-vascularised clusteroids is necrotic core formation; as nutrients and oxygen cannot diffuse into the centre of the clusteroid without other cells taking it up, the cells within become starved and subsequently die. This necrotic core formation is similar to that of poorly-vascularised solid tumours. Co-culture clusteroids are clusteroids that are composed of multiple different cell lines or types.

A clusteroid is a method of producing 3D cell cultures that was first developed in 2019. Clusteroids are grown as not true spheroids but as dense clusters of cells in an aqueous two-phase system of water-in-water Pickering emulsion. The cells are incapsulated by mixing two aqueous solutions containing the incompatible polymers: Polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution as a continuous phase and dextran solution (DEX) as a dispersed phase, using whey protein as a stabiliser. Clusteoids as an in vitro model are more accurate to the complexities of in vivo, and aren't as susceptible to some of the problems 2D cultures present, for example; A large problem in culturing cells as a 2D monolayer is confluence as most cell lines used in research tend to decline in growth and health above 80% due to competition between cells for nutrients and oxygen in their growth media. A unique problem in non-vascularised clusteroids is necrotic core formation; as nutrients and oxygen cannot diffuse into the centre of the clusteroid without other cells taking it up, the cells within become starved and subsequently die. This necrotic core formation is similar to that of poorly-vascularised solid tumours. Co-culture clusteroids are clusteroids that are composed of multiple different cell lines or types.

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