Much of our understanding of the biological processes that underlie cellular functions in
humans, such as cell–cell communication, intracellular signaling, and transcriptional and
posttranscriptional control of gene expression, has been acquired from studying cells in a
two-dimensional (2D) tissue culture environment. However, it has become increasingly
evident that the 2D environment does not support certain cell functions. The need for more
physiologically relevant models prompted the development of three-dimensional (3D) …