Cell ball culture pore plate
By incorporating multiple pits and buffer platforms in the cell sphere culture plate, the problem of insufficient cell sphere quantity in the single-well single-sphere culture mode is solved, achieving efficient and uniform cell sphere culture, which is suitable for high-throughput automated operation.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SUZHOU SANTI BIOTECHNOLOGY CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-31
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-22
AI Technical Summary
In existing three-dimensional cell culture methods, the single-well single-sphere culture mode limits the number of cell spheres, making it difficult to meet the demand for a large number of cell spheres, and the sample loading and pipetting operations are prone to damaging the cell spheres.
Design a cell sphere culture plate with multiple pits and buffer platforms inside the culture wells. The pits are of an upper and lower structure, and the buffer platforms are used for buffer liquid impact to prevent cell sphere damage.
It improves the efficiency and quantity of cell spheroid formation, ensures experimental uniformity, reduces damage to cell spheroids during sample loading and pipetting, and is suitable for high-throughput automated operations.
Smart Images
Figure CN224266323U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model relates to the field of cell culture technology, belonging to the field of biological tissue engineering, and particularly to a cell sphere culture plate. Background Technology
[0002] Compared to two-dimensional cell culture, three-dimensional cell culture technology provides cell models that more closely resemble the real in vivo environment, improving the predictive ability of cell experiments, shortening experimental cycles, and reducing research and development costs. Therefore, three-dimensional cell culture technology has been rapidly adopted in research fields such as drug development, stem cell culture, and organ regeneration.
[0003] Currently, there are two main methods for three-dimensional cell culture: scaffolded three-dimensional cell culture and scaffoldless three-dimensional cell culture. Among them, scaffoldless three-dimensional cell culture is widely accepted and used due to its simplicity, convenience, and suitability for high-throughput automated operations. To ensure the quantity and throughput of cell spheroids, 96-well or 384-well plates are usually used for cell spheroid culture. However, because it uses a single-well, single-cell culture mode, the number of cell spheroids that can be obtained at one time is still limited. For some experiments that require a large number of cell spheroids, such as Western blotting, a large number of cell spheroids are needed to collect a sufficient quantity, and it is difficult to ensure that all cell spheroids are under uniform conditions. In addition, sample addition can easily cause shock to the cell spheroids, and the target cell spheroids can easily be aspirated or their structure destroyed during medium changes. Utility Model Content
[0004] In view of the shortcomings of the existing technology, the purpose of this utility model is to provide a cell sphere culture plate.
[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution provided by an embodiment of this utility model is as follows:
[0006] A cell spheroid culture plate includes a culture plate with a plurality of culture wells arranged at intervals, each culture well containing a plurality of pits.
[0007] As a further improvement of this utility model, multiple of the said pits are provided on the inner bottom wall of the culture well.
[0008] As a further improvement of this utility model, the recess has an upper recess body and a lower recess body connected to the upper recess body. The cross-section of the upper recess body is polygonal, and the lower recess body is hemispherical or inverted conical.
[0009] As a further improvement of this utility model, the cross-section of the upper pit is hexagonal.
[0010] As a further improvement of this utility model, the circumscribed circle radius of the upper pit is equal to the radius of the lower pit.
[0011] As a further improvement of this utility model, the radius of the lower pit is 100-300μm.
[0012] As a further improvement of this utility model, a buffer platform is provided on the inner sidewall of each culture well.
[0013] As a further improvement of this utility model, there is a certain distance between the surface of the buffer platform and the upper edge of the recess.
[0014] As a further improvement of this utility model, the distance between the lowest point of the buffer platform and the upper edge of the recess is 1-9.8mm.
[0015] As a further improvement of this utility model, the buffer platform is at least one protrusion protruding from the inner wall of the culture hole, or the buffer platform is an annular platform protruding from the inner wall of the culture hole.
[0016] The beneficial effects of this utility model are:
[0017] (1) The operation is simple. During cell sphere culture, a large number of uniform cell spheres can be obtained in the same culture well at one time, which can effectively improve the efficiency and quantity of cell sphere formation and ensure the uniformity of the experiment.
[0018] (2) The specially designed buffer platform of this utility model can effectively avoid the impact of the liquid on the bottom of the pit during sample addition, which would cause the cell balls to be washed out of the pit. At the same time, it can prevent the cell balls from being accidentally aspirated or damaged when the pipette tip touches the bottom of the pit during pipetting.
[0019] (3) It retains the characteristics of traditional orifice plates, has a large throughput, and its shape is compatible with most detection models on the market, making it easy to observe and suitable for a variety of imaging technologies. Attached Figure Description
[0020] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0021] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0022] Figure 2 A top view showing a recess and a buffer platform in a single culture well, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] In the figure: 1. Culture plate, 11. Culture well, 111. Inner bottom wall, 12. Pits, 121. Upper pit body, 122. Lower pit body, 13. Buffer platform, 14. Baffle. Detailed Implementation
[0024] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of this utility model, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the protection scope of this utility model.
[0025] Please see Figure 1 , Figure 2 This application discloses a cell sphere culture plate, including a culture plate 1, on which a plurality of culture wells 11 are arranged at intervals, and each culture well 11 is provided with a plurality of pits 12.
[0026] This invention is simple to operate. By setting multiple pits 12 in each culture well 11, a large number of uniform cell spheres can be obtained in the same culture well 11 at one time during cell sphere culture. This can effectively improve the efficiency and quantity of cell sphere formation and ensure the uniformity of the experiment.
[0027] Please see Figure 1 In this embodiment, the culture plate 1 is shaped similarly to a conventional well plate. The cell spheroid culture plate in this embodiment is a 96-well plate, with 96 culture wells 11 arranged in an array on the culture plate 1. It offers high throughput, and the shape of the culture plate 1 is compatible with most commercially available detection instruments, facilitating observation and making it suitable for various imaging technologies. It is understood that, depending on actual needs, the cell spheroid culture plate can also be configured as a 48-well plate, a 24-well plate, or a 384-well plate.
[0028] To achieve simplicity and consistency in the processing of multiple pits 12, it is preferable that multiple pits 12 are all set on the inner bottom wall 111 of the culture well 11, so as to improve the uniformity of subsequent cell spheroid formation.
[0029] Please see Figure 2 The pit 12 has an upper pit body 121 and a lower pit body 122 connected to the upper pit body 121. The cross-section of the upper pit body 121 is polygonal, and the lower pit body 122 is hemispherical, which facilitates the improvement of the cell spheroidization speed and quality. It can be understood that the lower pit body 122 is not limited to a hemispherical shape, but can also be an inverted cone shape.
[0030] In this embodiment, the cross-section of the upper pit 121 is hexagonal. It is understood that the cross-section of the upper pit 121 is not limited to hexagonal; it can also be pentagonal, heptagonal, etc. In this embodiment, the radius of the circumscribed circle of the upper pit 121 is equal to the radius of the lower pit 122. It is understood that the radius of the circumscribed circle of the upper pit 121 can also be slightly larger than the radius of the lower pit 122.
[0031] The radius of the lower pit 122 is preferably 100-300 μm, which facilitates the formation of cell spheres with a diameter of 80-350 μm during subsequent culture, thus promoting nutrient and material exchange within the cell spheres. It is understandable that, given the positive correlation between the size of the formed cell spheres and the radius of the lower pit 122, other cell sphere sizes can be obtained by altering the radius of the lower pit 122.
[0032] In some embodiments, a buffer platform 13 is provided on the inner sidewall of each culture well 11. By providing the buffer platform 13, the sample is buffered by the buffer platform 13 during the addition of the sample, which can effectively prevent the liquid flow rate from being too fast and impacting the bottom of the pit 12, thus avoiding the cell balls from being washed out of the pit 12. At the same time, during pipetting, the pipette tip can be kept against the buffer platform 13 to prevent the cell balls from being accidentally aspirated or damaged when the pipette tip touches the bottom of the pit 12.
[0033] To better buffer the flow, it is preferable that there is a certain distance between the surface of the buffer platform 13 and the upper edge of the recess 12. The recess 12 is located on the inner bottom wall 111 of the culture well 11, so the upper edge of the recess 12 is the inner bottom wall 111 of the culture well 11.
[0034] Preferably, the distance between the lowest point of the buffer platform 13 and the upper edge of the recess 12 is 1-9.8 mm. In this way, after adding about 30-250 μL of liquid to the culture well 11, the liquid level will be flush with the lowest point of the buffer platform 13. This ensures that the impact force on the cell spheres during sample addition or the accidental aspiration and damage to the cell spheres during pipetting is avoided, while meeting the cell density required for cell sphere culture.
[0035] In this embodiment, the buffer platform 13 is a protrusion protruding from the inner wall of the culture well 11. It is understood that the number of buffer platforms 13 is not limited to one; there can be two, three, or more. Alternatively, the buffer platform 13 can be an annular platform protruding from the inner wall of the culture well 11, in which case the buffer platform 13 is arranged in a ring shape.
[0036] Depending on actual needs, at least one baffle 14 can also be provided on the inner sidewall of each culture well 11, with the baffle 14 extending to the inner bottom wall 111 of the culture well 11. This arrangement can block the empty space in the inner bottom wall 111 of the culture well 11 where the recess 12 is not provided, preventing liquid from flowing through this area and improving liquid utilization.
[0037] In use, 100 μL of cell suspension can be added to each culture well 11 along the buffer platform 13, with a cell density of approximately 0.5 × 10⁻⁶ cells / well. 4 -5×10 4 Place the cells into the incubator. The specific cell density depends on the experimental requirements and the well diameter of the cell spheroids. After 24 hours, place the pipette tip on the buffer stage 13 and add 100 μL of cell spheroid culture medium. Subsequent culture methods are the same as conventional cell spheroid culture methods. Verification has shown that this cell spheroid culture plate can effectively improve the efficiency and uniformity of cell spheroid formation, reduce the impact on cell spheroids during sample addition, and prevent accidental aspiration or damage of cell spheroids during pipetting, greatly improving and enhancing existing three-dimensional cell spheroid culture methods.
[0038] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that it can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of this invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered illustrative and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of this invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, it is intended that all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims be included within this invention. No reference numerals in the claims should be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.
[0039] Furthermore, it should be understood that although this specification describes embodiments, not every embodiment contains only one independent technical solution. This narrative style is merely for clarity. Those skilled in the art should consider the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art.
Claims
1. A cell spheroid culture plate, characterized in that, The invention includes a culture plate having a plurality of culture wells arranged at intervals, each culture well having a plurality of pits located on the inner bottom wall of the culture well, and each culture well having a buffer platform on its inner sidewall. The buffer platform is at least one protrusion protruding from the inner sidewall of the culture well, or the buffer platform is an annular platform protruding from the inner sidewall of the culture well.
2. The cell spheroid culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pit has an upper pit body and a lower pit body connected to the upper pit body. The cross-section of the upper pit body is polygonal, and the lower pit body is hemispherical or inverted conical.
3. The cell spheroid culture plate according to claim 2, characterized in that, The cross-section of the upper pit is hexagonal.
4. The cell spheroid culture plate according to claim 2, characterized in that, The radius of the circumscribed circle of the upper pit is equal to the radius of the lower pit.
5. The cell spheroid culture plate according to claim 2, characterized in that, The radius of the lower pit is 100-300μm.
6. The cell spheroid culture plate according to claim 1, characterized in that, There is a certain distance between the surface of the buffer platform and the upper edge of the recess.
7. The cell spheroid culture plate according to claim 6, characterized in that, The distance between the lowest point of the buffer platform and the upper edge of the recess is 1-9.8 mm.