Investigation of Cell Localisation Pattern in 3 Dimensional Micro-tissues

It is impossible to mimic mammalian tissues by classical two-dimensional (2D) techniques. In this study, it is aimed to take advantage of self-assembly characteristics of cells in physiological conditions to achieve 3D tissues in vitro. Human Osteosarcoma cells (SaOS-2) were co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human skin fibroblast cells (Detroit) were co-cultured with human skin keratinocyte cells (HS2) in agar gels that were formed using 3D Petri Dish (R) technique, and localization of cells were examined. Affect of cell number on localization was also investigated via using different cell ratios in co-culture systems. The change over time in the size of micro-tissues was determined using ImageJ program. The fluorescence microscope examination revealed that in SaOS-2 - HUVEC co-culture system, cells were localized randomly, and there wasn't any significant effect of cell number on localization pattern. In HS2 - Detroit co-culture system, fibroblasts were localized in the core and the keratinocytes were found on the outer shell, and cell number didn't affect this pattern. In microtissues formed by HS2 - Detroit co-culture, there was a significant increase in size after 72 hours. In the SaOS- 2 HUVEC co-culture, there was a significant reduction between the first and the fifth hours.