ArticlePloS one2013
Cooperative roles of SDF-1α and EGF gradients on tumor cell migration revealed by a robust 3D microfluidic model.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers.
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 103 citations in OpenAlex.
- Engineering autoimmune disease models using organoids: Harnessing microenvironmental engineering for precision medicine and immunological recapitulation.Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2026Review
- MDA-MB-231 cell morphology influences chemotactic sensing of CXCL12 gradients in type 1 bovine collagen matrix.PloS one · 2026Article
- Microphysiological systems for metastasis research: a stepwise approach.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Cancer-on-a-chip for precision cancer medicine.Lab on a chip · 2025Review
- Tumor-microenvironment-on-a-chip: the construction and application.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2024Review
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- Decoding physical principles of cell migration under controlled environment using microfluidics.Biophysics reviews · 2024Review
- Mechanical compression regulates tumor spheroid invasion into a 3D collagen matrix.Physical biology · 2024Article
- Extracellular Vesicles, Circulating Tumor Cells, and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Hints and Promises.Cells · 2024Review
- Sodium alginate/carboxymethylcellulose gel formulations containingTherapeutic delivery · 2024Article
- Cells function as a ternary logic gate to decide migration direction under integrated chemical and fluidic cues.Lab on a chip · 2023Article
- Deduction of signaling mechanisms from cellular responses to multiple cues.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2022Article
- Biomedical Applications of Microfluidic Devices: A Review.Biosensors · 2022Review
- Biofabrication approaches and regulatory framework of metastatic tumor-on-a-chip models for precision oncology.Medicinal research reviews · 2022Review
- Three-Dimensional In Vitro Cell Culture Models for Efficient Drug Discovery: Progress So Far and Future Prospects.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Digital Light Processing Bioprinting Advances for Microtissue Models.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2022Review
- Tumor spheroid invasion in epidermal growth factor gradients revealed by a 3D microfluidic device.Physical biology · 2022Article
- Cancer Stem Cells in Tumor Modeling: Challenges and Future Directions.Advanced nanobiomed research · 2021Article
- Microengineered 3D Tumor Models for Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery in Female-Related Cancers.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2021Review
- A simple, low cost and reusable microfluidic gradient strategy and its application in modeling cancer invasion.Scientific reports · 2021Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chemokine-mediated directed tumor cell migration within a three dimensional (3D) matrix, or chemoinvasion, is an important early step in cancer metastasis. Despite its clinical importance, it is largely unknown how cytokine and growth factor gradients within the tumor microenvironment regulate chemoinvasion. We studied tumor cell chemoinvasion in well-defined and stable chemical gradients using a robust 3D microfluidic model. We used CXCL12 (also known as SDF-1α) and epidermal growth factor (EGF), two well-known extracellular signaling molecules that co-exist in the tumor microenvironment (e.g. lymph nodes or intravasation sites), and a malignant breast tumor cell line, MDA-MB-231, embedded in type I collagen. When subjected to SDF-1α gradients alone, MDA-MB-231 cells migrated up the gradient, and the measured chemosensitivity (defined as the average cell velocity along the direction of the gradient) followed the ligand - receptor (SDF-1α - CXCR4) binding kinetics. On the other hand, when subjected to EGF gradients alone, tumor cells increased their overall motility, but without statistically significant chemotactic (directed) migration, in contrast to previous reports using 2D chemotaxis assays. Interestingly, we found that the chemoinvasive behavior to SDF-1α gradients was abrogated or even reversed in the presence of uniform concentrations of EGF; however, the presence of SDF-1α and EGF together modulated tumor cell motility cooperatively. These findings demonstrate the capabilities of our microfluidic model in re-creating complex microenvironments for cells, and the importance of cooperative roles of multiple cytokine and growth factor gradients in regulating cell migration in 3D environments.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.