The invention is directed to a method for the in vitro production of arrangements of cell layers in which a first well (2.1) which is closed off from its environment except for a first inlet opening (4.1) and a first outlet opening (5.1) and which has as a first cell substrate (6.1) a first wall (2.1.1) and as a second cell substrate (6.2) an opposite, second wall (2.1.2) which is separated from the first wall (2.1.1) by a first gap, a free surface of a cell substrate (6.1, 6.2) to be colonized with cells is oriented orthogonal to the Earth's gravitational force, and cells (9) are adhered to the cell substrate (6.1, 6.2) to be colonized. The invention is further directed to a method of maintaining the biological functionalities of the cell layers and semi-finished products of a device for the in vitro production and culturing of cell layers and a method for the production of the device.

A cell culture apparatus may include a substrate defining a well. The well may define an interior surface, an exterior surface, an upper aperture and a nadir. The substrate may define a thickness between the interior and exterior surfaces that has a thickness proximate the nadir that is greater than or equal to a thickness proximate the upper aperture.

A cell culture well insert may include a frame defining a first open end, a second open end, and at least one support extending therebetween. The cell culture well insert may also include a fluid permeable mesh coupled to the frame and disposed across the second open end. The mesh may define pores that have an average pore size in a range from 10 micrometers to 100 micrometers.

Fluidic multiwell bioreactors are provided as a microphysiological platform for in vitro investigation of multi-organ crosstalks for an extended period of time of at least weeks and months. The disclosed platform is featured with one or more improvements over existing bioreactors, including on-board pumping for pneumatically driven fluid flow, a redesigned spillway for self-leveling from source to sink, a non-contact built-in fluid level sensing device, precise control on fluid flow profile and partitioning, and facile reconfigurations such as daisy chaining and multilayer stacking. The platform supports the culture of multiple organs in a microphysiological, interacted systems, suitable for a wide range of biomedical applications including systemic toxicity studies and physiology-based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic predictions. A process to fabricate the disclosed bioreactors is also provided.

The present invention relates to an imaging device for observing the development of a living cell or a set of living cells such as embryos, comprising a lighting system, means for relative displacement and an imaging system equipped with a wide-field camera which is adapted to allow the identification, the imaging and the observation of one or more living cells or sets of living cells to be observed. The invention also relates to a method for observing the development of embryos by means of such a device.

Provided herein are methods for identifying and treating cancers that are resistant to PARP inhibition. Methods for sensitizing cancers to a PARP inhibitor therapy are also provided. In some aspects. PARP inhibitor cancers are treated with a PARP inhibitor therapy in combination with a c-Met inhibitor therapy.

Polymer hydrogels and methods for selective retrieval of microbial targets from microwells and other cell culture devices. The methods use semi-permeable, photodegradable hydrogel membranes that permit exchange of nutrients and waste products but seals motile bacteria and other microbes within microwells. Light exposure can be used to degrade the hydrogel membrane in a targeted manner and release the microbes from targeted microwells for further study.

A cell aggregate culture vessel (1) is a vessel for culturing a cell aggregate. The cell aggregate culture vessel (1) includes a well (21) having a culture space capable of storing the cell aggregate and culture fluid and a tubular body (3) which is disposed on the well on a plane at which the well has an opening and have an inner cavity communicating with the culture space, and one or more communication portion (3a) capable of discharging the culture fluid without allowing passage of the cell aggregate to the outside of the tubular body (3) is formed in a tubular wall of the tubular body (3). The communication portion (3a) may be, for example, a slit having a width of 0.1 mm or larger and 0.5 mm or smaller.

A cell culture vessel including an accommodating part which is an inner space accommodating a cell culture support therein, a fixing member configured to fix the cell culture support to a lower surface of the accommodating part, wherein the fixing member includes a first adhesive layer attached to the lower surface of the accommodating part, a second adhesive layer attached to a lower surface of the cell culture support, and a support film interposed between the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer and configured to perform a support function, and an adhesive force between the second adhesive layer and the cell culture support is higher than an adhesive force between the first adhesive layer and the lower surface of the accommodating part.

Microfluidic devices, systems, and methods providing for an invasion assay using microfluidic culture systems.