Why transfer from 2D to 3D in High throughput screening?
Major part of the cell-based high throughput screening (HTS) assays are done still with traditional two-dimensional (2D) cultures that poorly represent the complex three-dimensional (3D) physiological environment, where living cells naturally grow. The highly artificial HTS monolayer (2D) cultures are thought to significantly impact on the predictive value of compound screens and lead to high failure rate in drug discovery.
Advanced 3D cell-based assays for high throughput screening provide a more physiologically relevant solution. Some of the current 3D models possess major obstacles in scaling up for HTS assays, as they are not reproducible, the costs are high, and there are several technical problems that cause challenges, including: automation of liquid handling, temperature control, optimizing imaging and detection methods, chemical and physical properties of the matrix and downstream processing.