3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues: Assay-Ready Liver Spheroids
Streamline your research with standardized, ready-to-use, primary cell-based 3D liver models in high-density culture format.
De-risk Animal Findings. Improve Human Translation.
3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues enable direct comparison of hepatotoxicity across human and preclinical species, helping determine whether animal safety signals are relevant to humans and strengthening translational confidence.
Derived from the most widely used IND-enabling species, these physiologically relevant 3D microtissues replicate native liver architecture and function. Each spheroid contains carefully selected, species-specific primary hepatocytes co-cultured with non-parenchymal cells to preserve key hepatic activities.
Delivered assay-ready, 3D InSight™ Liver Microtissues support immediate deployment, enabling consistent, scalable, and reproducible data generation from day one.
3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues are the industry’s only assay-ready solution featuring 96 uniform, fully species-specific co-culture spheroids with up to four weeks of viability. The format is automation-compatible and scheduling-flexible, accelerating high-quality safety assessment and decision-making.
Portfolio of our Assay-Ready 3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues
- 3D InSight™ Beagle Dog Liver Microtissues
- 3D InSight™ C57BL/6 Mouse Liver Microtissues
More preclinical species are available through Liver Safety Services.
What makes our assay-ready species-specific liver model the preferred choice
Physiologically Relevant. Better Predictions
Fully primary, species-specific hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells mimic in vivo liver physiology, delivering more predictive translational data.
Single Platform,
Multiple Species
Aligned human and non-human platform deliver directly comparable results, streamlining discovery of cross-species differences.
Flexible for Your Workflow and Applications
With up to 4 weeks of viability and maintained functionality, our 3D liver models support flexible study designs and timelines- ready for diverse research needs upon delivery.
Global Shipping,
Faster Results
Produced every three weeks and delivered worldwide, our assay-ready 3D liver microtissues arrive with everything you need to start generating results from day one.
Reproducible Results, Scaled to Your Needs
Standardized automated three-weekly production and pharma-grade QC deliver consistent spheroids and reproducible results - ideal for studies at any throughput.
Scalable. Trusted by Industry Leaders.
3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues - The only fully species-specific scalable in vitro model
Species-Specific Liver Microtissues produced in 2025
Drug Developers Adopted 3D InSight™ Species-Specific LiMTs in 2025
Industry Partners participated in model validation
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Where Long-term Functionality Meets Physiological Relevance
Proven Viability and Phenotypic Stability
Extend your experimental timelines without compromising data quality. Our 3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues maintain high viability and consistent albumin secretion for up to 4 weeks, enabling reliable long-term and repeated-treatment studies adaptable to your needs.
Figure: Albumin measurement in 3D InSight™ Dog Liver Microtissues in 28 days of culture.
Reliable Metabolic Activity for Long-term Studies
Conduct long-term functional assays confidently using 3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues, which maintain stable cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity for an extended period. This enables robust and accurate assessments in long-term liver safety, efficacy, drug metabolism, or pharmacokinetics studies.
Figure: measurement of metabolite concentration in 3D InSight™ Dog Liver Microtissues after CYP substrate application.
High Physiological Relevance
Achieve more accurate predictions with high functional models, suitable for safety assessment of different drug modalities.
Figure: immunohistochemical staining of 3D InSight™ Mouse Liver Microtissues.
Accurate Results Start with Reproducible Model Production
Pharma-grade QC for Consistent Results
Our streamlined automated production process and rigorous pharma-grade quality control ensure consistent, uniform spheroids across batches. Using large, cryopreserved cell lots ensures minimal batch-to-batch variability - so you can confidently plan long-term studies and repeat experiments, knowing you will generate the same high-quality, reproducible data every time.
Figure: Graph showing ATP and diameter values of different 3D InSight™ Dog Liver Microtissues production at day 1 after aggregation
How it works
Our species-specific liver microtissues are produced every three weeks.
You can place your order before the order deadline listed in the production schedule.
From order deadline to experiment in 14 days - our 3D liver microtissues arrive assay-ready to fast-track your research from day one.
Step 1
Order 3D InSightTM Species-Specific Liver Microtissues
Step 2
InSphero takes care of the production, QC (week 1)
Step 3
InSphero ships your order in the InFloat™ system with medium (week 2)
Step 4
Receive our assay-ready 3D Liver models at your doorstep (within week 2)
Technical Specifications
Production & Quality Control
Deliverables
Technical Documents
Technical Specifications
Species-Specific Liver Microtissues
Dog Liver microtissues:
- Primary Beagle dog hepatocytes (1 donor)
- Co-culture with Beagle dog non-parenchymal liver cells (1 donor), including but not limited to Kupffer cells and LECs
- Pre-aggregated 1 spheroid/ well in AkuraTM 96 spheroid microplate
- Cultured in 3D InSightTM Liver Maintenance Medium
- Guaranteed 4 weeks of functional viability & stability
- Size: Diameter between 235 – 335 μm
Mouse Liver microtissues:
- Primary C57BL/6 mouse hepatocytes pooled from 48 donors
- Co-culture with C57BL/6 mouse non-parenchymal liver cells (pooled 48 donors), including but not limited to Kupffer cells and LECs
- Pre-aggregated 1 spheroid/ well in AkuraTM 96 spheroid microplate
- Cultured in 3D InSightTM Liver Maintenance Medium
- Guaranteed 4 weeks of functional viability & stability
- Size: Diameter between 220 – 320 μm
Production & Quality Control
- Large cell lot availability
- Robust pre-validation
- Hepatic markers: Albumin, ASGR1, CK18, BSEP; Non-Parenchymal markers: CD68, Alpha-SMA, CD3)
- Long-term viability and functional assays: size, ATP, Albumin, CYP 450
- Suitability for drug testing: test panel of reference compounds
- Pharma-grade QC (Morphology & ATP production)
- Cell lot validation:
Deliverables
Deliverables
- Pre-aggregated assay ready 3D InSightTM Beagle Dog or C57BL/6 Mouse Liver Model
- Species-specific optimized medium (3D InSightTM Dog/Mouse Liver Maintenance)
- Donor information, Quality of Assurance (QoA)
- Handling and culturing protocols
Technical Documents
- Quick Start Guide - Handling 3D InSight™ Microtissues delivered in Akura™ 96 Plates
- Technical Protocol - 3D InSight™ Microtissues Handling in Akura™ 96 Plates
- How-to: Unpacking 3D InSight™ Microtissues delivered with InFloat™ Shipping System
- ATP Quantification with the Promega CellTiter-Glo® 2.0 Assay
Assay-Ready 3D InSight™ Species-Specific LiMTs - Product Manual
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between 2D hepatocyte culture and 3D liver spheroids?
In 2D hepatocyte cultures, liver cells are grown as a flat monolayer on a plastic surface. While simple to handle, these cells rapidly lose liver-specific functions, such as cytochrome P450 activity and albumin production, limiting their use for long-term or predictive studies. In contrast, 3D liver spheroids, such as InSphero’s 3D InSight™ Human and Species-Specific Liver Microtissues, are self-assembled co-cultures of hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells that mimic the structural and functional complexity of the liver.
These 3D models maintain liver-specific functions over several weeks, support long-term and repeated-dose studies, and better replicate the in vivo liver environment, enabling more human-relevant and translational insights.
How long do the microtissues remain functional in culture?
Once received, the 3D liver microtissues maintain high viability, albumin secretion, and stable CYP450 activity for up to 4 weeks, supporting short- and long-term experiments, including repeated dosing.
How reproducible are the data between different productions?
Each production batch of assay-ready 3D InSight™ Human and Species-Specific Liver Microtissues is manufactured using a standardized, controlled process to ensure consistency. Every batch undergoes rigorous quality control, including checks for spheroid size, ATP content, and confirmation of one spheroid per well. To support transparency and reproducibility, each plate is shipped with a certificate of analysis (CoA).
What are assay-ready 3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues?
They are pre-aggregated, viable 3D liver spheroids composed of species-specific primary hepatocytes and liver non-parenchymal cells (including but not exclusively Kupffer and endothelial cells), delivered in Akura™ 96 spheroid microplates (1 spheroid/well). Ready for immediate use upon arrival. No thawing, seeding, or pre-culture required.
Do I need special media or plates to use assay-ready spheroids?
The assay-ready 3D InSight™ Species-Specific Liver Microtissues are delivered in Akura™ 96 spheroid microplates, optimized for 3D spheroid culture, no transfer is needed. To maintain viability and function, you should use the appropriate Species-Specific 3D InSight™ Liver Maintenance Medium (dog TOX, mouse TOX), provided or specified with your order.
How often does InSphero change species-specific donor lots, and how is data consistency ensured?
Donor lot changes at InSphero are infrequent, thanks to the use of large pooled donor lots, enabling consistent supply for long-term studies. To ensure data consistency, InSphero follows a standardized production process and performs comprehensive lot validation before a donor lot is released for production. Each lot is evaluated for key hepatic and non-parenchymal cell markers (e.g., ASGR1, CK18, BSEP, CD68, α-SMA, CD3), and functionally characterized over time for ATP levels, albumin secretion, cytochrome P450 activity.
Only lots that meet strict performance criteria are approved for production, ensuring high-quality, consistent data across experiments.
Which preclinical species are available as Assay-Ready plates?
Currently, we offer 3D InSight™ Beagle Dog and C57BL/6 Mouse Liver Microtissues as Assay-Ready product. Other preclinical species are available as services performed in our headquarters in Schlieren, ZH, CH.