title: 3D printing of biomimetic microstructures for cancer cell migration.
abstract: To understand the physical behavior and migration of cancer cells, a 3D in vitro micro-chip in hydrogel was created using 3D projection printing. The micro-chip has a honeycomb branched structure, aiming to mimic 3D vascular morphology to test, monitor, and analyze differences in the behavior of cancer cells (i.e. HeLa) vs. non-cancerous cell lines (i.e. 10 T1/2). The 3D Projection Printing system can fabricate complex structures in seconds from user-created designs. The fabricated microstructures have three different channel widths of 25, 45, and 120 microns wide to reflect a range of blood vessel diameters. HeLa and 10 T1/2 cells seeded within the micro-chip were then analyzed for morphology and cell migration speed. 10 T1/2 cells exhibited greater changes in morphology due to channel size width than HeLa cells; however, channel width had a limited effect on 10 T1/2 cell migration while HeLa cancer cell migration increased as channel width decreased. This physiologically relevant 3D cancer tissue model has the potential to be a powerful tool for future drug discoveries and cancer migration studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of NanoEngineering, University of California, MC-0448, SME Building 245B, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Tina Qing
authors.initials: TQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shaochen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D051379:Mice; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels