Corning Incorporated

Public University Corporation Yokohama City University

Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Yoko Ejiri

Satoru Ayano

Hideki Taniguchi

Takanori Takebe

Naoto Fukuhara

Masaya Hosoda

Go Tazaki

Kaoru Kobayashi

Kan Chiba

Hanaka Mimura

Provided is a culture chamber capable of preparing spheroids with a uniform size with high efficiency and having a micro-space structure which is designed to facilitate replacement of a medium and harvesting of cells. The culture chamber includes a plurality of recesses () each formed of a bottom portion () and an opening portion (). The bottom portion () has one of a hemispherical shape and a truncated cone shape and the opening portion () is defined by a wall that surrounds an area from a boundary between the opening portion () and the bottom portion () to an end of each of the recesses (), the wall having a taper angle in a range from 1 degree to 20 degrees. An equivalent diameter of the boundary is in a range from 50 μm to 2 mm and a depth from a bottom of the bottom portion () to the end of each of the recesses is in a range from 0.6 or more times to 3 or less times the equivalent diameter, and the wall defining the opening portion () forms a surface continuous to the bottom portion () and an inclination of the continuous surface changes at the boundary.

Culture chamber and culture method

Provided is a culture chamber that includes a plurality of recesses each formed of a bottom portion and an opening portion. The bottom portion has a hemispherical shape or a truncated cone shape. The opening portion is defined by a wall that surrounds an area from a boundary between the opening portion and the bottom portion to an end of each of the recesses, the wall having a taper angle in a range from 1 to 20 degrees. An equivalent diameter of the boundary is from 50 μm to 2 mm and a depth from a bottom of the bottom portion to the end of each of the recesses is from 0.6 or more times to 3 or less times the equivalent diameter, and the wall defining the opening portion forms a surface continuous to the bottom portion. An inclination of the continuous surface changes at the boundary.

Provided is a culture chamber that includes a plurality of recesses each formed of a bottom portion and an opening portion. The bottom portion has a hemispherical shape or a truncated cone shape. The opening portion is defined by a wall that surrounds an area from a boundary between the opening portion and the bottom portion to an end of each of the recesses, the wall having a taper angle in a range from 1 to 20 degrees. An equivalent diameter of the boundary is from 50 &#x3bc;m to 2 mm and a depth from a bottom of the bottom portion to the end of each of the recesses is from 0.6 or more times to 3 or less times the equivalent diameter, and the wall defining the opening portion forms a surface continuous to the bottom portion. An inclination of the continuous surface changes at the boundary.

A tissue structure for enabling comprehensive understanding of gene patterns of mature cells and a method of preparing the tissue structure are provided. A tissue structure is obtained by co-culturing an endodermal, ectodermal, or mesodermal cell derived from a stem cell and at least one cell and/or factor selected from the group consisting of a vascular cell, a mesenchymal cell, a factor secreted by a vascular cell, a factor secreted by a mesenchymal cell, and a factor secreted when both a vascular cell and a mesenchymal cell exist. A value obtained by assay of a plurality of functions using a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is closer to a value of a cell or biological tissue sampled from an adult than a value of a cell or biological tissue sampled from a fetus.

Tissue structure and preparation method thereof

The present invention provides a culture method for culturing, in recesses (), a population including two or more cells including a cell derived from a stem cell and a mesenchymal cell. The cell derived from a stem cell is a cell obtained by differentiating a stem cell in vitro. The cell is a cell of one or more types selected from the group consisting of an endodermal cell, an ectodermal cell, and a mesodermal cell. The population is cultured in the recesses () together with a vascular cell or a secretor factor. Each recess () includes a space in which cells are movable. When a volume of the space is represented by V mmand the number of mesenchymal cells seeded in the space is represented by N, V is 400 or less and N/V is in a range from 35 to 3000.

Culture method and cell cluster

Provided is a technique that uses an established hepatocyte cell line in a method for evaluating an effect of a cytokine on a metabolic activity of a cytochrome P450 and in a method for evaluating a drug which interacts with a cytokine. The method for evaluating an effect of a cytokine on a metabolic activity of a cytochrome P450 includes: culturing an established hepatocyte cell line by using a culture chamber () including culture rooms (), to thereby form spheroids (); and evaluating the presence or absence of induction or attenuation of the cytochrome P450 after bringing a spheroid-shaped established hepatocyte cell line into contact with a test solution containing the cytokine in the culture chamber for one hour or more and less than 96 hours.

Method for evaluating effect of cytokine on metabolic activity of cytochrome P450, and drug screening method

Provided are a method capable of evaluating adherent cells under an environment similar to an in vivo environment by a culture method similar to a two-dimensional culture, and applications thereof. An adherent cell culture method uses, as a culture chamber (), a chamber in which two or more culture spaces each having an equivalent diameter (D) that is 1 to 5 times the diameter of a desired spheroid and each having a height (H) that is 0.3 to 5 times the equivalent diameter are arranged and a surface of each of the culture spaces has a water contact angle of 45 degrees or less. Spheroids of adherent cells are cultured in the respective culture spaces () arranged in the culture chamber ().

Adherent cell culture method

A culture chamber includes a plurality of recesses () each formed of a bottom portion () and an opening portion (). The bottom portion () has a hemispherical shape and the opening portion () is defined by a wall that surrounds an area from a boundary between the opening portion () and the bottom portion () to an end of each of the recesses (), the wall having a taper angle in a range from 1 degree to 20 degrees. An equivalent diameter of the boundary is in a range from 50 &#x3bc;m to 2 mm and a depth from a bottom of the bottom portion () to the end of each of the recesses is in a range from 0.6 or more times to 3 or less times the equivalent diameter, and the wall defining the opening portion () forms a surface continuous to the bottom portion ().

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Tsukuba, Japan

Yoko Ejiri