METHOD FOR ACTIVATING TWO-DIMENSIONAL CULTURED CELLS SIMILARLY TO THREE-DIMENSIONAL CULTURE OR IN VIVO, AND USE THEREOF

摘要

A problem in evaluating anti-cancer drugs is that the required assessment period is relatively long by conventional methods. At least the time needed for three-dimensional culture would be rendered unnecessary and a target substance could be evaluated quickly and easily if activation under non-dividing conditions in a manner equivalent to three-dimensional culture (or in vivo) were possible without actual three-dimensional culture. Such a method of mimicking three-dimensional culture can be expected to find application not only in the evaluation of anti-cancer drugs but also in the evaluation and assessment of the physiological activity of various stimuli. A method for evaluating a stimulus applied to cells, taking as an indicator the existence or magnitude of changes in the cells, the method including: a step for covering part of a monolayer of cells of animal origin supported on a substrate with a composition containing an extracellular matrix component and for activating the cells under non-dividing conditions; a step for applying a stimulus to the activated cells; and a step for detecting changes in the cells occurring after the stimulus has been applied.