Figure 4

Analysis of 2D versus 3D culture. (A) Analysis of cell cycle and proliferation rates of keratinocytes revealed significant cell cycle differences of cells cultured in 2D (black bars) compared to cells cultured in 3D (blue bars). Immunofluorescence staining of the proliferation marker Ki67 (red) of cells on cytospots showed a higher amount of Ki67 positive cells in 2D than in cells re-isolated from 3D models. (B) Analysis of cell cycle and proliferation rates of the melanoma cell line SK-MEL-28. 3D culture led to an altered cell cycle and a slightly decreased Ki67 (red) staining in contrast to 2D. (C) Analysis of cell cycle and proliferation rates of the melanoma cell line A11 cultured in 2D compared to those cultured in 3D. Both, cell cycle and Ki67 (red) expression showed similar tendencies in 2D and 3D culture. Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar 50 µm.