The study of cellular migration dynamics and strategies plays a relevant role in the
understanding of both physiological and pathological processes. An important example
could be the link between cancer cell motility and tumor evolution into metastatic
stage. These strategies can be strongly influenced by the extracellular environment
and the consequent mechanical constrains. In this framework, the possibility to study
the behavior of single cells when subject to specific topological constraints could
be an important tool in the hands of biologists. Two-photon polymerization is a
sub-micrometric additive manufacturing technique that allows the fabrication of 3D
structures in biocompatible resins, enabling the realization of ad hoc biochips for cell
motility analyses, providing different types of mechanical stimuli. In our work, we present
a new strategy for the realization of multilayer microfluidic lab-on-a-chip constructs
for the study of cell motility which guarantees complete optical accessibility and the
possibility to freely shape the migration area, to tailor it to the requirements of the
specific cell type or experiment. The device includes a series of micro-constrictions
that induce different types of mechanical stress on the cells during their migration. We
show the realization of different possible geometries, in order to prove the versatility of
the technique. As a proof of concept, we present the use of one of these devices for the
study of the motility of murine neuronal cancer cells under high physical confinement,
highlighting their peculiar migration mechanisms.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:84499 |
| Date | 03 April 2023 |
| Creators | Sala, Federico, Ficorella, Carlotta, Vázquez, Rebeca Martínez, Eichholz, Hannah Marie, Käs, Josef A., Osellame, Roberto |
| Publisher | Frontiers Research Foundation |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 2296-4185, 664094 |
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