title: A cell migration device that maintains a defined surface with no cellular damage during wound edge generation.
abstract: Studying the rate of cell migration provides insight into fundamental cell biology as well as a tool to assess the functionality of synthetic surfaces and soluble environments used in tissue engineering. The traditional tools used to study cell migration include the fence and wound healing assays. In this paper we describe the development of a microchannel based device for the study of cell migration on defined surfaces. We demonstrate that this device provides a superior tool, relative to the previously mentioned assays, for assessing the propagation rate of cell wave fronts. The significant advantage provided by this technology is the ability to maintain a virgin surface prior to the commencement of the cell migration assay. Here, the device is used to assess rates of mouse fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) and human osteosarcoma (SaOS2) cell migration on surfaces functionalized with various extracellular matrix proteins as a demonstration that confining cell migration within a microchannel produces consistent and robust data. The device design enables rapid and simplistic assessment of multiple repeats on a single chip, where surfaces have not been previously exposed to cells or cellular secretions.
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael Robert
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Doran
authors.forename: Richard James
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Anthony James
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Kerry Anne
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Landman
authors.forename: Justin John
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cooper-White
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D004058:Diffusion; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins