MISpheroID: a knowledgebase and transparency tool for minimum information in spheroid identity

CRIG

Dr. Arne Peirsman, Eva Blondeel and colleagues from the lab of CRIG group leader and chairman Prof. Olivier De Wever have developed a crowdsourcing knowledgebase that assembles the experimental parameters of 3058 published spheroid-related experiments.

Spheroids are three-dimensional cellular models with widespread basic and translational application across academia and industry. However, methodological transparency and guidelines for spheroid research have not yet been established. Therefore, the researchers started gathering experimental parameters of published spheroid-related experiments in their ‘MiSpheroID’ tool.

Interrogation of all these experiments identified heterogeneity in the methodological setup of spheroids. Empirical evaluation and interlaboratory validation of selected variations in spheroid methodology revealed diverse impacts on spheroid metrics. To facilitate interpretation, stimulate transparency and increase awareness, the Consortium defines the MISpheroID string, a minimum set of experimental parameters required to report spheroid research. Thus, MISpheroID combines a valuable resource and a tool for three-dimensional cellular models to mine experimental parameters and to improve reproducibility.

Their study was recently published in the high impact journal Nature Methods.

Discover the article via this link.

Visit the MISpheroID website via this link.