국립 부경대학교

Professor Lim Do-jin's Research Team at Pukyong National University Published Cover Paper in International Journal

- Development of a New Technology for Droplet 3D Cell Culture in Oil… Published in the International Journal 《Small Methods》

The paper by Professor Lim Do-jin’s research team from Pukyong National University (Department of Chemical Engineering) was published as the cover article in the international journal 《Small Methods (IF 10.7)》.

The title of the paper published as the cover article in the latest issue of this journal is ‘3D Cell Culture Method in Channel-Free Water-in-Oil Droplets.’

In this paper, Professor Lim Do-jin’s research team developed and presented a novel droplet-based 3D cell culture technology in oil that does not use channels (passages) for the cultivation of organoids, which are models of artificial organs.

Organoids are artificially created organ models that are gaining attention as a new preclinical model capable of replacing animal experiments, often referred to as the ’game changer of regenerative medicine‘ in the future.

However, due to the size limitations of 3D cell cultures determined by the size of the culture system, there is a limitation in organoid cultivation that necessitates a cumbersome and complex process of sequentially changing the culture system.

To address this issue, the research team achieved the formation of various sizes of 3D cell cultures through a simple system configuration using a novel droplet (a very small, round drop) 3D cell culture technology that does not utilize channels.

The first author of this research paper, Ph.D. student Bae Seo-jun, systematically analyzed over 10,000 spheroid images and discovered that the size of spheroids formed can be determined by controlling the droplet size.

He stated, “The droplet-based 3D cell culture technology in oil that does not use channels, combined with digital microfluidics that excels in droplet manipulation, is expected to aid in the development of automated organoid culture systems.”

Professor Lim Do-jin’s research team conducted this study with the support of the Mid-Career Researcher Support Project from the National Research Foundation of Korea.