Cell cultures are important material of study for the variety of advantages that they offer. Both established continuous cell lines and primary cell cultures continue to be invaluable for basic research and for direct applications. Technological advancements are necessary to address emerging complex challenges and the way cells are cultured in vitro is an area of intense activity. One important advancement in cell culture techniques has been the introduction of three dimensional culture systems. This area is one of the fastest growing experimental approaches in life sciences. Augmented with advancements in cell imaging and analytical systems, as well as the applications of new scaffolds and matrices, cells have been increasingly grown as three dimensional models. Such cultures have proven to be closer to in vivo natural systems, thus proving to be useful material for many applications. Here, we review the three dimensional way of culturing cells, their advantages, the scaffolds and matrices currently available, and the applications of such cultures in major areas of life sciences.
Synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) usingPolyalthia longifolialeaf extract as reducing and capping agent along with D-sorbitol used to increase the stability of the nanoparticles has been reported. The reaction is carried out at two different concentrations (10−3 M and 10−4 M) of silver nitrate, and the effect of temperature on the synthesis of AgNPs is investigated by stirring at room temperature (25°C) and at 60°C. The UV-visible spectra of NPs showed a blue shift with increasing temperature at both concentrations. FT-IR analysis shows that the biomoites played an important role in the reduction of Ag+ions and the growth of AgNPs. TEM results were utilized for the determination of the size and morphology of nanoparticles. The synthesized silver nanoparticles are found to be highly toxic against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria.
A biosynthesized ZnO–Ag nano custard apple shows a better photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of methylene blue than commercial ZnO nanoparticles and TiO2 (P25).
Advancements in cell cultures are occurring at a rapid pace, an important direction is culturing cells in 3D conditions. We demonstrate the usefulness of agarose hydrogels in obtaining 3 dimensional aggregates of three cell lines, A549, MCF-7 and Sp2/0. The differences in culture phases, susceptibility to cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity are studied. Also, the 3D aggregates of the three cell lines were reverted into 2D cultures and the protein profile differences among the 2D, 3D and revert cultures were studied. The analysis of protein profile differences using UniProt data base further augment the usefulness of agarose hydrogels for obtaining 3D cell cultures.
We have synthesized and stabilized spherical, flower, urchin and polydispersed AuNPs using pomegranate (Punica granatum) peel extract. The AuNPs act as sequential sensors towards Fe 3+ as well as As 3+ ions. Upon addition of Fe 3+ ions, the AuNPs aggregates due to the interaction between the capping agent and Fe 3+ ions. The aggregation results in a color change visible to naked-eye, which is 10 originated by the inter-plasmon coupling of AuNPs. Interestingly, the AuNP-Fe system dis-aggregates only in presence of As 3+ ions, resulting further color change in the visible region. The aggregation and dis-aggregation phenomena were examined by UV-vis spectrophotometer, DLS, SEM, and TEM. The rates for aggregation and dis-aggregation of AuNP systems in presence of the metal ions were determined. The naked eye detection limit for Fe 3+ and As 3+ ions was 10 -7 and 10 -4 M, respectively. 15 Finally, we have demonstrated the practical application of biosynthesized AuNPs by real sample analysis.
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