Cell Migration and Invasion

The movement of cells when influenced by interactions with neighboring cells, known as collective cell migration, plays a role in numerous critical physiological processes, including morphogenesis and tissue regeneration. Collective cell migration has also been implicated in playing a major role in cancer metastasis. An increasing number of publications indicate that metastatic cells cluster and invade collectively in the vasculature and lymphatics of cancer patients. Attaining a better understanding of collective cell movement is of critical value for the treatment of multiple disease types. BioTek instruments and accessories provide optimized solutions for characterizing cell migration across a broad range of assay formats.

Scratch Wound Assay

The wound healing or "scratch" assay is one of the most highly used in vitro methods to monitor and quantify collective cell migration. The AutoScratch Wound Making Tool creates uniform and precise wounds in either 24- or 96-well plates. Cell migration into the wound area over time is monitored within the Lionheart™ FX Automated Live Cell Imager or Cytation™ Cell Imaging Multi-mode Reader, with Gen5™ analysis delivering detailed and reproducible cell migration results.

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Barrier Cell Migration Assay

Cell exclusion zone assays, or barrier assays, rely on the creation of a cell-free zone without the use of a mechanical “scratch.” Removal of the temporary barrier enables surrounding cells to migrate into the open area. With this application, cell migration into the wound area over time is monitored within the Lionheart FX Automated Live Cell Imager or Cytation Cell Imaging Multi-mode Reader, with Gen5 analysis delivering detailed and reproducible cell migration results.

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Chemotactic Cell Migration and Invasion Assay

The advent of permeable supports has provided a simple in vitro approach to measure chemotaxic cell migration and invasion. The addition of a fluorescence blocking membrane improves the accuracy of the assay, and allows the use of inverted fluorescence microscopy for detailed kinetic analysis. This provides the ability to accurately count the number of cells reaching the bottom of the membrane instead of relying on PMT-based measurements, which are more vulnerable to background fluorescence.

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