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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Microfluidic Device for Recreating a Tumor Microenvironment in Vitro

Microfluidic Device for Recreating a Tumor Microenvironment in Vitro

Published on: November 20, 2011

Engineered three-dimensional microfluidic device for interrogating cell-cell interactions in the tumor

K Hockemeyer, C Janetopoulos, A Terekhov¹

¹Center for Laser Applications, University of Tennessee Space Institute , Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388-9700, USA.

Biomicrofluidics

|November 8, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote tumor cell dispersal in a 3D microenvironment. Normal tissue-associated fibroblasts (NAFs) limit tumor cell migration, suggesting distinct roles in cancer metastasis.

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Last Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Microfluidic Device for Recreating a Tumor Microenvironment in Vitro

Microfluidic Device for Recreating a Tumor Microenvironment in Vitro

Published on: November 20, 2011

Microfluidic Co-Culture Models for Dissecting the Immune Response in in vitro Tumor Microenvironments

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Monitoring Cancer Cell Invasion and T-Cell Cytotoxicity in 3D Culture

Monitoring Cancer Cell Invasion and T-Cell Cytotoxicity in 3D Culture

Published on: June 23, 2020

Area of Science:

Oncology
Biomedical Engineering
Cell Biology

Background:

Tumor microenvironment stromal cells, including cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and endothelial cells, influence tumor cell metastasis.
Tumor cell migration into vasculature is a critical step in the metastatic cascade.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and utilize a microfluidic device to visualize and quantify stromal cell and tumor cell interactions in a 3D microenvironment.
To investigate the distinct roles of CAFs and normal tissue-associated fibroblasts (NAFs) in regulating tumor cell migration and spheroid dispersal.
To elucidate the impact of interstitial flow and chemokines on tumor cell behavior within the tumor microenvironment.

Main Methods:

Development of a microfluidic device coupling a 200-μm channel with a semicircular well to simulate blood vessel-stroma interface.
Imaging of interactions between tumor cell spheroids and stromal cells (CAFs, NAFs, endothelial cells, leukocytes) under controlled interstitial flow.
Treatment of tumor spheroid cultures with the chemokine CXCL12 to assess its effect on tumor cell migration.

Main Results:

NAFs promoted a "single file" migration pattern of tumor cells from spheroids in a 3D matrix.
CAFs induced rapid tumor cell dispersion and migration into the 3D matrix.
CXCL12 treatment mimicked CAF-induced tumor cell dispersal, but NAFs mitigated this effect, suggesting NAFs stabilize spheroids against CXCL12-driven migration.

Conclusions:

CAFs significantly enhance tumor cell dissemination compared to NAFs within a 3D microenvironment.
The chemokine CXCL12 plays a role in tumor cell dispersal, with its effect modulated by the presence of different fibroblast subtypes.
This microfluidic model provides a platform to study complex cell-cell and cell-flow interactions relevant to tumor metastasis.