3D cell cultures toward quantitative high-throughput drug screening

Abstract

3D cell cultures are being utilized for drug discovery and development. However, there are still challenges to implementing them generally in quantitative high-throughput screening (HTS) due to the complexity of the 3D architecture, the time- and labor-consuming process, and the lack of compatibility with traditional screening protocols. Therefore, there is a great need for the integration of microfabrication techniques, automation systems, and high-throughput analytical tools that reveal the pharmacological and toxicological effects of therapeutics using 3D cultures. We first review the current advances in 3D culture models and discuss their key challenges in HTS. Last, we review recent progress and breakthroughs in the automation and high-throughput imaging of 3D culture models, which can be integrated with machine-learning (ML) tools to aid quantitative HTS for drug discovery and development.

Keywords: 3D cell culture; automation; cellular spheroids; high-throughput screening; machine learning; organ-on-a-chip; organoid.