A study of cancer cell metastasis using microfluidic transmigration device

Metastasis of cancer cell was studied using microfluidic device. Migration of cells in the microchannel array mimics their transmigration in tissue capillaries during in vivo metastasis. Details of the morphological changes were recorded through high resolution imaging. Results showed that the deformation of cell nucleus is critical for the transmigration of breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231. Condensation of chromatin by drug plicamycinon significantly impaired their deformation abilities and subsequently reduced the transmigration by 2 to 3 fold for microchannel smaller than 10 μm × 5 μm. As transmigration is critical for cancer metastasis, the results will be useful in designing new anti-cancer therapy.