Culture of vascular cells in tridimensional (3-D) collagen: a methodological review

Experimental models based on the culture of cells within tridimensional (3- D) gels add a 3-D organization to the classical 2-D culture of vascular cel ls. They allow the study of cell structure in an environment which is more representative of the in vivo situation and the investigation of cellular f unctions which cannot be studied using the basic 2-D models. This review sh ows examples of the use of cultures of vascular cells (endothelial cells, s mooth muscle cells as well as fibroblasts) in 3-D collagen matrices for the study of cellular functions as diverse as angiogenesis, extracellular matr ix reorganization, migration through 3-D collagen gels or phenotype modulat ion. It also describes recent advances in the in vitro reconstruction of bi ological blood vessels by bioengineering. A method for the preparation of 3 -D collagen gels is described.