Microfluidic platform to study extravasation of cancer cells
November 2018
Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milano, Italy(1)
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore, Singapore(2)
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore, Singapore(2)
The interplay between cancer tumour cells and tissue-specific cells is key for the development of metastases. Specifically, the transmigration of tumour cells through the endothelium and their establishment in a foreign tissue. However, current in vitro models fail in replicating these complex interactions and often lack physiological relevance. Here, a microarray analysis of extravasated human breast cancer cells was coupled with the development of a multicellular microfluidic platform of human cancer cells, endothelium and bone-mimicking environment to study the extravasation potential of human cancer cells from different tissues. The results showed that extravasation is characterised by an up-regulation of late-metastatic markers together with proteases involved in the shedding of the endothelium's glycocalyx. Moreover, the microfluidic platform highlighted that the bone-mimicking microenvironment increased metastasis-related features in three different cancer cell types with different intensities, replicating the in vivo characteristics of these cancer types. Overall, the researchers elucidate some mechanisms related to cancer cell extravasation and propose a new microfluidic platform that can help understand the extravasation potential of different cancer cell types in tissue-specific environments.
A combined microfluidic-transcriptomic approach to characterize the extravasation potential of cancer cells
Matteo Moretti(1), Giulia Adriani(2)
Added on: 10-19-2021
[1] https://www.oncotarget.com/article/26306/[2] https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset/ffebe454-ed9a-47cf-8a33-8cf70c1b7d38
