**7. Vision and agenda**

The honeycomb culture system has been used for tissue engineering. For example, when honeycombs filled with grown human adipose-derived stem cells were transplanted into nude mice, bone formation was observed *in vivo* [31]. Another report showed that new bone induction by KUSA/A1cells was promoted by using honeycomb culture [32]. Furthermore, when human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) were co-cultured with Swiss 3T3 cells in honey‐ combs, type I collagen synthesis by Swiss 3T3 cells contributed to the hepatic maturation of hESCs [33]. From these data, it can be seen that the honeycomb culture system has the potential to help the regeneration of organs and to facilitate the analysis of intercellular interactions. In the near future, in order to clarify the mechanism of the phenotypic modulation of VSMCs involved in atherosclerosis, we intend to co-culture VSMCs and macrophages. In addition, the reason for the proliferative inhibition of VSMCs cultured in honeycombs is still unclear. This is our agenda that remains to be solved.
