The present disclosure provides a method of producing uniformly sized organoids/multicellular spheroids using a microfluidic device having an array of microwells. The method involves several successive steps. First, a microfluidic device containing parallel rows of microwells that are connected with a supplying channel is filled with a wetting agent. The wetting agent is a liquid that is immiscible in water. For example, the wetting agent may be an organic liquid such as oil. In the next step, the agent in the supplying channel and the microwells is replaced with a suspension of cells in an aqueous solution that contains a precursor for a hydrogel. Next, the aqueous phase in the supplying channel is replaced with the agent, which leads to the formation of an array of droplets of cell suspension in the hydrogel precursor solution, which were compartmentalized in the wells. The droplets are then transformed into cell-laden hydrogels. Subsequently, the agent in the supplying channel is replaced with the cell culture medium continuously flowing through the microfluidic device and the cells within the hydrogels are transformed into multicellular spheroids.

A cell culture apparatus includes one or more plates having a first major surface and an opposing second major surface. The first major surface comprises a structured surface defining a plurality of wells. Each well has an interior surface defining an upper aperture and a nadir, wherein the upper aperture of each well has a diametric dimension in a range from 100 micrometers to 2000 micrometers. The apparatus also includes a plurality of spacers extending from the first major surface along a length of the bottom surface. A plurality of flow channels are defined between adjacent rails.

The present invention relates to a device for cultivating cells, in particular tissue, comprising a carrier plate unit which has a central axis of rotation, at least one access opening arranged proximally to the axis of rotation, at least one cultivation chamber arranged distally to the axis of rotation, and at least one channel connecting the access opening to the cultivation chamber, and also a method for cultivating cells in a device according to the invention and a method for producing the device according to the invention.

The invention relates to peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) monolayers or bone-marrow cell monolayers and methods for its culture and corresponding uses of said monolayers. The present invention also relates, in some aspects, to screening methods comprising the PBMC monolayer or bone-marrow cell monolayer of the invention for determination of response or lack of response of a disease to a therapeutic agent and/or drug screening methods. In some aspects, the invention further relates to methods for diagnosing a disease or predisposition to a disease in a PBMC donor or bone-marrow cell donor comprising the PBMCs/bone-marrow cells cultured according to the method of the invention and/or to methods for determining whether the disease is likely to respond or is responsive to treatment with a therapeutic agent.

The invention relates to peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) monolayers or bone-marrow cell monolayers and methods for its culture and corresponding uses of said monolayers. The present invention also relates, in some aspects, to screening methods comprising the PBMC monolayer or bone-marrow cell monolayer of the invention for determination of response or lack of response of a disease to a therapeutic agent and/or drug screening methods. In some aspects, the invention further relates to methods for diagnosing a disease or predisposition to a disease in a PBMC donor or bone-marrow cell donor comprising the PBMCs/bone-marrow cells cultured according to the method of the invention and/or to methods for determining whether the disease is likely to respond or is responsive to treatment with a therapeutic agent.

A culture container (1) having a guide thread (31) and a plurality of cells (32) that is capable of culturing a regenerative hair follicle germ (30), wherein the culture container (1) is equipped with a first recess (10) and a second recess (20) and the second recess (20) has a second bottom (22) where the guide thread (31) can be positioned in the center of an opening (23) and a method for producing a regenerative hair follicle germ that includes a step for aggregating a cell population including epithelial cells (32a) within the second recess (20) of the culture container (1), a step for aggregating a cell population including mesenchymal cells (32b) within the second recess (20), a step for inserting the guide thread (31) into the second recess (20), and a step for culturing the cell population including epithelial cells (32a) and the mesenchymal cells (32b).

A cell screening device including a bottom plate, a cell placement membrane, a pair of fluid injection parts, and a flow channel, the flow channel being formed between the bottom plate and the cell placement membrane and extending in such a manner that the flow channel end parts respectively reach the fluid injection parts. In the cell placement membrane, a plurality of wells, each having a size capable of housing a single cell, and through holes are formed. In the back side of each lid, i.e., the ceiling face of the flow channel end part, a debubbling surface, which rises in an inclined or step-like manner as getting closer to a fluid injection hole, is formed.

The present invention provides improved devices for co-culture of cells. The devices include inserts having invertible wells that can be lowered into a well of any standard cell culture plate. A first population of cells can be cultured in the invertible wells of the inserts and a second population of cells can be cultured in the wells of a cell culture plate. Once the first population of cells attach to the invertible wells, the inserts are flipped over and placed into the wells of the cell culture plate to co-culture with the second population of cells.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure provide highly deformable porous membrane culture systems and actuation methods for studying the effects of biomedical stretch on cultured tissue. A well plate can include a well having a first opening configured to receive an insert coupled to a deformable membrane. The well plate can include a gasket positioned within the well and configured to create a seal between the insert and the well when the insert is positioned in the well. The well plate can include a chamber defined beneath the well, the chamber configured to receive fluid media and to expose the fluid media to a surface of the deformable membrane when the insert is positioned in the well. The well plate can include an actuator configured to stretch the deformable membrane by a target amount of strain.

A cell culture device is provided, which comprises a cavity and a base layer, wherein the base layer is a type of plastic thin film and has a thickness of 1 μm to 100 μm; a second-moment of inertia lower than 6×10.sup.6 μm.sup.4; and a resultant flexural rigidity of 1×10.sup.−6 Pa.Math.m.sup.4 to 0.02 Pa.Math..sup.4. Accordingly, the base layer can produce an out-of-plane strain, and bending deformation can occur. Therefore, a growth space close to in vivo environment is provided by the base layer for the cells when the cells attach to the base layer, thereby promoting the growth and maturation of the cells and tissues.