coculture

Coculture is the practice of cultivating two or more distinct biological cultures in proximity or in shared media to study their interactions. The approach aims to model natural ecosystems, tissue interfaces, or cooperative metabolism by allowing cells or microbes to influence each other through signaling, metabolites, or physical contact.

Coculture has a long history in microbiology and biotechnology, where mixed cultures have been used for fermentation and the production of foods and chemicals. In modern research, cocultures are employed to investigate cell–cell communication, symbiotic relationships, and the influence of one cell type on another. Examples span mammalian cell systems, plant-microbe interactions, and microbial consortia used for biomass conversion or drug discovery.

Methods of coculture vary to control the degree of interaction. Direct contact coculture places different cell types in physical contact, facilitating cell–cell signaling and matrix interactions. Indirect or separated coculture uses permeable membranes or conditioned media to allow exchange of soluble factors without direct cell contact. Three-dimensional coculture and microfluidic or organ-on-a-chip platforms further mimic physiological environments and enable more complex intercellular relationships.

Applications cover basic research and applied science. In tissue biology and cancer research, coculture models help study the tumor microenvironment and tissue interfaces. In plant sciences, root-associated bacteria or mycorrhizal fungi are cocultured with plants to explore symbioses. In industrial settings, microbial cocultures can improve yields, enable cooperative metabolism, or broaden substrate utilization. Challenges include maintaining stable community composition, reproducibility, contamination risks, and translating in vitro coculture findings to in vivo contexts.