Table 2.

Synthetic and natural hydrogels for 3D cell culture.

	Properties	Materials	Cells	Applications
Synthetic	Provide structural support to various cell types	PVA	Mouse 129 teratocarcinoma AT805 derived cells (ATDC5) [37], Human iPS cells (HPS0077) [38]	Repair cartilage [37], promote differentiation [38]
		pHEMA	Bovine ear chondrocytes [39]	Proliferate chondrocytes [39]
		PEG	Ovarian Follicle cell [40], human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) [41]	Promote cell survival, growth [40], and viability by encapsulation [41]
Natural	Support cellular activities and are biocompatible and biodegradable	Collagen	Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) [42]	Form stable EC networks [42]
		Alginate	Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) [43], rat astroglioma (LRM55) [44]	Maintain their ability to secrete therapeutic factors [43], maintain the viability and function [44]
		Hyaluronic acid	Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells (hiPSC-NPCs) [45], human breast cancer MCF-7 cells [46]	Promote neural differentiation [45], higher tumorigenic capability of MCF-7 cells [46]