Methods of studying mammalian cell migration and invasion in vitro

Cell migration is a critical event for many physiological processes, such as embryonic development, renewal of skin and intestine, tissue repair, immune surveillance and so on. The abnormality of cell migration affects normal physiological processes and causes diseases, such as wound-healing delay of skin. Cell culture in vitro is essential for studying the migration process and the underlying mechanism. For cell migration detection in vitro, there are a number of methods and each has its own advantages and limitations. Transwell and wound healing assay are the most common methods used to study migration of different cells under different conditions. Besides, other assays are developed in the process of studying cell migration. In recently years, 3D cell migration attracts more and more attention for its accurate mimic of in vivo environment and it may be a trend of detecting cell migration and invasion in vitro in future. This paper summarizes current methods of studying cell migration in vitro and provides reference to researchers.