Previous studies have shown that the upregulation of CD151 and β1 is associated with poor prognosis in many cancers such as breast cancer. Studies have provided evidence that these proteins are associated with the adhesion and migration of tumor cells. In this study, a microfluidic flow chamber was utilized to determine how CD151 and β1 affected the firm and initial adhesion of metastatic breast cancer cells to a planar endothelial monolayer under shear stress. This system mimicked the adhesion of metastatic breast cancer cells to the endothelial cells of the circulatory system. CD151 and β1 increased the firm adhesion of metastatic breast cancer cells onto an endothelial monolayer when subjected to high shear stresses. CD151 and β1 increased the initial adhesion of metastatic breast cancer cells onto an endothelial monolayer. A transwell assay was utilized to determine how CD151 and β1 affected random migration through different matrixes and random transendothelial migration. CD151 and β1 decreased the random migration of metastatic breast cancer cells through matrices. Additionally, background information is provided related to the metastatic cascade, how it can be modeled with microfluidics, and how CD151 and β1 have been known to effect cancer and metastasis.

This thesis engages in a study of mesenchymal stem cell migration in extracellular matrix based on principles of chemotaxis. First, attention is focused on a theoretical part associated with a clarification of basic terms such as extracellular matrix, migration, confocal microscopy, mesenchymal stem cells or chemotaxis. There is also included a list and a description of some basic methods for monitoring cell migration and a more detailed description of a method called transwell assay, which has been chosen for an experiment in a practical part of this thesis. This part includes protocols of individual steps for the preparation of the experiment, the procedure of data processing obtained by scanning cells with a confocal microscope and a description of the resulting confluence values.