Cell migration is an essential function that both influences the positioning of cells within the body and affects bodily processes like repairing wounds. Unfortunately, cell migration is also an essential component in metastasis. Cancer research has benefited greatly from the advancements in modern technology. For instance, 3D tissue culturing models, such as spheroids, enable researchers to perform in vitro assays on samples that more accurately recreate the tumor environment than cell cultures alone. However, spheroids by themselves are not sufficient when studying metastasis; to accurately recreate in vivo cell migration you must also accurately recreate the tissue-specific microenvironment. Thus, the difficulty in studying metastasis lies in the ability to design high-throughput, results-producing in vitro assays that translate to the in vivo environment.
In the study “A biomimetic high throughput model of cancer cell spheroid dissemination onto aligned fibrillar collagen” by Ibrahim, et al., the team of researchers seeks a new way to provide a tool for observing cell migration with a high-throughput spheroid-based migration assay by using a tissue-mimicking, fibrillar collagen type 1 extracellular matrix (ECM). By placing spheroids in the center of a tissue-mimicking ECM, the researchers produced a more accurate representation of how cells migrate through an ECM, thus creating a new method for researchers to study cell motility and cancer metastasis. Access this August issue of SLAS Technology to learn more about the image analysis of cell migration and its potential benefits in cancer research.
The August issue of SLAS Technology includes these additional articles:
Access to the August issue of SLAS Technology is available at https://slas-technology.org/issue/S2472-6303(22)X0005-8
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SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international professional society of academic, industry and government life sciences researchers and the developers and providers of laboratory automation technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.
SLAS Technology: Translating Life Sciences Innovation, 2021 Impact Factor 2.813. Editor-in-Chief Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., National University of Singapore (Singapore).
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SLAS TECHNOLOGY
News article
Cells
A biomimetic high throughput model of cancer cell spheroid dissemination onto aligned fibrillar collagen
15-May-2022