title: Capturing relevant extracellular matrices for investigating cell migration.
abstract: Much progress in understanding cell migration has been determined by using classic two-dimensional (2D) tissue culture platforms. However, increasingly, it is appreciated that certain properties of cell migration in vivo are not represented by strictly 2D assays. There is much interest in creating relevant three-dimensional (3D) culture environments and engineered platforms to better represent features of the extracellular matrix and stromal microenvironment that are not captured in 2D platforms. Important to this goal is a solid understanding of the features of the extracellular matrix-composition, stiffness, topography, and alignment-in different tissues and disease states and the development of means to capture these features.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology, UW Carbone Cancer Center, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keely
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Amrinder
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nain
keywords: ECM; Matrix remodeling; cell migration; extracellular matrix; stromal microenvironment