The Next Frontier In Disease Modeling: Human Liver Spheroids And Ready-Made Kits

It would make sense that if the drugs are to be used in humans, the testing models should be human, too. Enter liver spheroids, the 3^rd dimension.

Because 3D cell cultures better mimic in vivo liver biology, researchers are turning to spheroids made with primary human hepatocytes to more accurately predict liver response. These approaches avoid the ethical quandaries of animal research models, and they also have the distinct advantage of being a 3D model. Whereas primary human hepatocytes tend to die in a week or so in 2D cultures, 3D structures, such as spheroids, enable long-term study of liver toxicity.