3D Cultures and Organ-on-a-Chip in Cell and Tissue Cultures

Dear Colleagues,

Our Special Issue “3D Cultures and Organ-on-a-Chip in Cell and Tissue Cultures” will highlight the transformative shift in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This evolution addresses the limitations of traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell culture models, which often fail to replicate the complex physiological environments of living organisms. In contrast, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture methods and organ-on-a-chip technologies provide advanced platforms that closely mimic in vivo conditions, enhancing cellular behavior, differentiation, and interaction.

Furthermore, organ-on-a-chip platforms combine microfluidic technology and living cells to replicate organ-specific microenvironments, allowing for more accurate research on toxicity, physiology, and pharmacological reactions. Drug discovery and illness research are accelerated through the combination of 3D cultures and organ-on-a-chip technologies, which opens up new possibilities for customized treatment. In this context, in recent decades, several models using different organs (lungs on a chip, liver on a chip, kidney on a chip, heart on a chip, intestine on a chip, and skin on a chip) have been successfully developed. However, relatively little research has been carried out on a number of other organs (such as the retina, placenta, and ovaries).

These new techniques have seen increasing implications in virtually all fields in biotechnology, in particular, regenerative medicine, providing a wealth of opportunities, including drug toxicity and efficacy studies, in vitro analyses of biochemicals, and pathogenesis studies on diseases and metabolic activities in cells, in human and veterinary medicine, contributing to the investigation of both basic and application issues.

Thus, for this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of original articles, reviews and mini-reviews, method papers, brief research reports, and perspectives that illustrate and simulate the growing efforts to achieve the convergence of 3D cultures and organ-on-a-chip technologies for new opportunities for regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and personalized medicine. These technologies could accelerate drug development and disease research while reducing our reliance on animal models, providing new insights and future trends in these rapidly evolving fields.

Prof. Dr. Annunziata Mauro
Prof. Dr. Barbara Barboni
Dr. Giovanna Della Porta
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

• three-dimensional cell culture
• organ-on-a-chip
• tissue engineering
• regenerative medicine
• drug testing
• microfluidics
• in vitro models
• personalized medicine
• cellular interaction
• disease modeling