Chick heart invasion assay

Tumors are microecosystems in which a continuous cross-talk between cancer cells and host cells decides on the invasive behavior of the tumor cell population as a whole (1). Both compartments secrete activating and inhibitory factors that modulate activities such as cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction, cell-cell adhesion, remodeling of the ECM, and cell motility. For this reason, confrontations of cancer cells with a living normal host tissue in organ culture have been introduced by several groups: Wolff and Schneider in France (2), Easty and Easty in the United Kingdom (3), and Schleich in Germany (4). Embryonic chick heart fragments in organ culture maintain many histological features of their tissue of origin: They are composed of myocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells, and their ECM contains fibronectin, laminin, and several collagen types. Moreover, the fragments remain contractile, and this activity allows the monitoring of their functional integrity during organ culture.