In Vitro Analysis of Macrophage and Fibroblast Co-cultures in the Context of the Foreign Body Response

摘要

In vitro culture lacks many key elements of the in vivo environment; however adding additional complexity, such as co-culture of both macrophages and fibroblasts can recapitulate some important in vivo signaling patterns. Misrepresentation of in vitro models in duplicating in vivo environments can be exacerbated by the use of secondary over primary cells and can result in misleading conclusions. The artificial environment inherent to in vitro culture can support unique cell behavior not found in vivo. The use of immortalized secondary cells can further misrepresent in vivo conditions, for example as seen by the fusion of secondary fibroblasts, not reported in vivo. Importantly in vitro models must be substantiated by in vivo phenomena and secondary cells must be substantiated for representative behavior against primary cells.