The ability to co-culture multiple cell types has opened the door to new ways to study cancers, development, and tissue formation. The three-dimensional co-culture of endothelial cells and smooth muscle mimics the structure of blood vessels. The co-culture experiments of carcinoma cells and intratumoral stromal cells played an important role in understanding the initiation and progression of breast cancer. In addition, feeder cells are commonly cultured with stem cells to maintain their pluripotency.

Our co-culture systems provide a unique platform for directly visualizing the contact between 2 cell types in the same well. First, the cells are cultured to form a monolayer around an insert that creates a cell-free area. The insert is then removed and the second cell type is added. It is then possible to visualize the interactions between the different cell types by microscopy.