Cancer intravasation-on-a-chip : a LEGO house for tumors!

The process where cancer cells leave the primary tumor and invade to the blood vessel. As shown in figure 1, intravasation is highly regulated by the micro-environment of the tumor. An important component of the micro-environment is the extracellular matrix (ECM) which can be seen as the building structure of a LEGO house. A proper model for cancer intravasation requires a proper model for the micro-environment, or in other words, a right LEGO house for cancer cells to live in! To model the process, microfluidics is used because there is: •more control on the biochemical content, •less human error by automating the experiments, •more complex designs, •and less ethical issues, it is a LEGO house! The GOAL is to study how the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix regulate the tumor intravasation by using a microfluidic chip

Integration of electro-spun scaffolds inside microfluidic chips : towards 3D migration assays on a chip

Extracellular matrix (ECM), as a bio-chemical and -physical support for cells, is of great importance in cell migration studies. 3D migration studies, compared to 2D cultures, have proven to best represent the in vivo conditions[1]. Hydrogels are usually used in in vitro studies as the 3D ECM. However, the relevance of the architecture and controllability of gels are debatable[2]. Self standing fibrous scaffolds, which more closely mimic the in vivo condition, can be fabricated (by electro-spinning) with different fiber sizes and architecture and from different materials. In addition, microfluidic chips can intrinsically control the biochemical content of the cell micro-environment which is also important for the cell migration. In this project, we have developed a new micro-fabrication method to integrate fibrous scaffolds inside a microfluidic device to study cell migration on a chip

Cancer intravasation-on-a-chip : a LEGO house for tumors!

The process where cancer cells leave the primary tumor and invade to the blood vessel. As shown in figure 1, intravasation is highly regulated by the micro-environment of the tumor. An important component of the micro-environment is the extracellular matrix (ECM) which can be seen as the building structure of a LEGO house. A proper model for cancer intravasation requires a proper model for the micro-environment, or in other words, a right LEGO house for cancer cells to live in! To model the process, microfluidics is used because there is:\u3cbr/\u3e•more control on the biochemical content,\u3cbr/\u3e•less human error by automating the experiments,\u3cbr/\u3e•more complex designs,\u3cbr/\u3e•and less ethical issues, it is a LEGO house!\u3cbr/\u3eThe GOAL is to study how the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix regulate the tumor intravasation by using a microfluidic chip