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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Ann Biomed Eng. 2020 Apr 13;48(7):2002–2027. doi: 10.1007/s10439-020-02498-w

Figure 1. Sources of cells for in vitro 3D culture models.

Figure 1.

A. Human PSCs are comprised of ESCs and iPSCs. ESCs are generated from pre-implantation embryos by isolating the inner cell mass of a blastocyst and culturing these cells in vitro under the appropriate conditions to maintain pluripotency. Alternatively, iPSCs are generated by the direct reprogramming of adult cells into a pluripotent state. A viral vector encoding the transcription factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC, known as the Yamanaka factors, is used to deliver the reprogramming factors to the cells. B. Adult stem cells (ASCs) isolated from healthy volunteers or patients are grown in vitro under optimized conditions to support the growth and expansion of 3D culture models such as organoids and spheroids. Examples of tissues where ASCs have been successfully isolated from include liver, pancreas, intestinal crypt, bone marrow and fat15,31,37,39,40,93.