In Vitro Models for Assessing Toxicity and Cellular Effects
Special Issue Editors
Interests: in vitro models; hiPSC; 3D culture; millifluidic culture systems; molecular pathways
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: in vitro models; hIPSCs; 3D culture; retinal organoids; glaucoma; millifluic culture systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: carac fibrotic tissue; 3D models; hydrogels, scaffolds, bioprinting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Growing concern for animal welfare, together with the need for more human-relevant data, has intensified the demand for alternative testing strategies to animal use. Traditional in vivo models, despite their widespread adoption, are often associated with high costs, long experimental timelines, limited standardisation, and suboptimal predictive power for human responses. Moreover, they offer limited control over experimental variables, particularly when investigating complex cellular and molecular interactions. These limitations, combined with the ethical imperative of the 3Rs principles—replacement, reduction, and refinement—underscore the urgent need for advanced in vitro approaches.
Conventional two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures, while widely used, represent an oversimplified approximation of native tissue environments. The absence of three-dimensional architecture, extracellular matrix components, and biomechanical cues significantly affects cell behavior and functional responses, reducing the reliability of pharmacological and toxicological evaluations. This is especially relevant for the assessment of nanoparticles and advanced materials, whose cellular uptake, distribution, and biological effects are highly dependent on tissue structure and microenvironmental conditions.
To address these challenges, innovative in vitro models such as 3D cultures, organoids, millifluidic bioreactors, and organ-on-chip platforms provide enhanced physiological relevance by mimicking in vivo cell organization and the extracellular environment and enhanced experimental control by finely tuning and sensing culture conditions. These systems enable more predictive assessments of toxicity, disease mechanisms, and nanoparticle–cell interactions under dynamic and human-relevant conditions.
This Special Issue aims to collect recent advances, challenges, and future perspectives in the development and application of innovative in vitro models for toxicity testing and cellular effect assessment, including studies involving nanomaterials and nanoparticle-based systems.
Dr. Anna Bassi
Dr. Sara Tiren
Dr. Alice Zoso
Dr. Camilla Paoletti
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- alternative testing
- NAMs
- 3D in vitro models
- organ-on-chip
- millifluidic cultures
- toxicity
- biomaterials
- 3Rs
- organoids
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
