Adaptable microfluidic device improves the measurement of cancer cell migration and trapping

The 21^st century has seen remarkable progress in cancer research, specifically in understanding the lethal processes that cause high mortality rates. Highly migratory cancer cells lead to metastasis – the life-threatening spread of cancer – as well as recurrence. Recently attempts have been made to quantify the migratory behavior of cultured cells to better understand and combat the underlying causes of metastasis.

By designing a system with controlled seeding of cancer cells, Hisey et al. improved measurement of migration behaviors without using expensive and technical motorized stage microscopes. Their research demonstrated that microfabricated 1D migration substrates combined with microfluidic hydrodynamic traps can seed single cells onto microtracks. This encourages 1D migration based on the tendency of cells to follow topographical cues.

“We are learning more genetic markers that indicate which subpopulations are responsive to specific drugs. This device allows for the testing of cells with potential drugs to see which specific drugs are capable of stopping metastasis and/or attacking the metastatic cells,” author Derek Hansford said, “This allows higher efficacy and higher specificity to prevent devastating side effects of the drugs.”

The authors intend on adjusting the device to fit a variety of other polymers, patterns, and adhesion proteins. They expect it will advance the automation of quantifying single cancer cell migration behavior and aid anti-metastasis drug screening.

Immediate application of the device is intended for the study of metastatic tumor cells and their migration under different conditions, and to discover potential treatments to prevent metastasis. The authors’ long-term research goal is to make the system intuitive enough that a clinical lab could sample cancer cells by loading them into the device, and test patient responses to potential treatments.

Source: “A versatile cancer cell trapping and 1D migration assay in a microfluidic device,” by Colin L. Hisey, Oihane Mitxelena-Iribarren, Miguel Martínez-Calderón, Jaymeson B. Gordon, Santiago M. Olaizola, Ainara Benavente-Babace, Maite Mujika, Sergio Arana, and Derek J. Hansford, Biomicrofluidics (2019). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5103269 .