3D microfluidic multicellular tumor model to study metastasis
December 2018
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
Recent studies have shown hypoxia to be a characteristic of tumor microenvironment and a trigger of tumor cell invasion. However, it is difficult to replicate tumor tissues in vitro due to current limitations. However, microfluidic models have become a popular tool to study individual factors in complex environments. Here, a microfluidic chip is used to study the role of hypoxia-inducible factors in the potential extravasation of human breast cancer cells growing around a microvascular network. The results showed that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha was increased in hypoxic conditions and correlated with the modulation of cell behaviour, which lead to an increase in the extravasation rate. When the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha was knocked-down, it was possible to block the metastatic behaviour. Overall, the researchers propose a new model that can help to elucidate the importance of hypoxia in tumor progress and metastasis and decipher the underlying mechanisms that drive this interplay.
A 3D microvascular network model to study the impact of hypoxia on the extravasation potential of breast cell lines
Roger D Kamm
Added on: 10-09-2021
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36381-5[2] https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset/ffebe454-ed9a-47cf-8a33-8cf70c1b7d38
