Extravasation of breast cancer cells in a 3D microfluidic platform in presence of SDF-1 alpha and EGF (poster)

Abstract

Various cytokines play important roles in metastasis of cancer, and investigation of their effects on cancer cells is crucial in order to develop methods for reducing cancer metastasis. Thus, we mimicked the microenvironment of tumor extravasation in 3D microfluidic devices. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded to form vascular structure alongside of fibrin gel in the microchannel, and fluorescently-labeled MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were seeded into the channel with the vessel. Two factors are introduced in microchannels and formed either uniform or linear gradient concentration for studying their effects in adhesion, transmigration, and migration behavior of cancer cells. In particular, we chose two cytokines, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and stromal derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1 alpha also known as CXCL12), which are known to facilitate parts of proliferation, invasion and adhesion of breast cancer cells. With the designed platform, we confirmed the roles of EGF and SDF-1 alpha on extravasation of breast cancer cells with increased adhesion and migration behavior. Therefore, we show that the developed microfluidic chip may be utilized as a platform for investigating the effects of single or combination of multiple factors for the development of cancer metastasis.