Cell culture vessel, sample observation cell, and cell culture method
The present invention provides a cell culture vessel/sample observation cell that is capable of culturing cells or cell tissue in three dimensions and allowing a three-dimensional structure of the cells or the cell tissue to be perceived easily. The cell culture vessel/sample observation cell according to the present invention for containing a culture gel in which the cells or the cell tissue is embedded, comprises a frame, at least one window bordered by the frame, and at least one projection projecting from the frame inwardly into the cell culture vessel/sample observation cell, wherein the at least one window is light-permeable and nutrient component-permeable and is placed in such a way as to allow for multifaceted observation of the cells or the cell tissue, and the projection has a feature point to be placed at a position where the cells or the cell tissue as well as the feature point can be observed from the window.
1. A cell culture vessel for containing a culture gel in which cells or cell tissue is embedded, the cell culture vessel comprising a frame, at least one window bordered by the frame, and at least one projection projecting from the frame inwardly into the cell culture vessel, wherein
the at least one window is light-permeable and nutrient component-permeable and is placed in such a way as to allow for multifaceted observation of the cells or the cell tissue, and
the projection has a feature point to be placed at a position where the cells or the cell tissue as well as the feature point can be observed from the window, the feature point being used as a reference point in a matching of observation images taken from different directions in the multifaceted observation of the cells or the cell tissue.
2. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein
the at least one window is made from a hydrogel or a porous solid, and
the porous solid includes at least one of a porous material-made sheet, a mesh, an etching sheet, a non-woven cloth, and a woven cloth.
3. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein the frame is shaped like a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped, and has an opening for placing the window at each of faces of the frame.
4. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein
the cell culture vessel has projections including the at least one projection, and
each of the projections has a respective feature point.
5. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein the projection has feature points including the feature point.
6. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein the projection has a taper-shaped portion at a tip thereof.
7. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein
the cell culture vessel has at least two windows including the at least one window, and
the projection has the feature point to be placed at a position where the feature point can be observed from the at least two windows.
8. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein the projection is configured in such a way that at least the feature point is made of autofluorescent material.
9. The cell culture vessel according to claim 1 , wherein the window includes an agarose gel, a polyacrylamide gel, a sodium alginate, or a collagen gel.
10. A sample observation cell for containing a culture gel in which cells or cell tissue is embedded, the sample observation cell comprising a frame, at least one window bordered by the frame, and at least one projection projecting from the frame inwardly into the sample observation cell, wherein
the at least one window is light-permeable and nutrient component-permeable and is placed in such a way as to allow for multifaceted observation of the cells or the cell tissue, and
the projection has a feature point to be placed at a position where the cells or the cell tissue as well as the feature point can be observed from the window, the feature point being used as a reference point in a matching of observation images taken from different directions in the multifaceted observation of the cells or the cell tissue.