Many drugs have looked like blockbusters in the cell-culture dish—easily infiltrating target cells and carrying out their tasks—only to flop in animals or people. The problem is simple: unlike those culture dishes, “we’re not flat,” says Shuichi Takayama of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
One issue with traditional 2-D culture is that cells in a single layer attached to glass or plastic have unfettered access to the media above them. They grow unusually quickly, as they imbibe a steady stream of nutrients. When drugs are added, the cells absorb them just as easily. But when those same drugs come up against the complex vasculature and cellular barriers in a living organism, they may fail to even reach their targets.
In addition, 2-D culture requires cells to interface with an unnatural material. “The interactions [cells] have with the plastic or glass, it’s not the same as the cell-cell interactions ...
