Direct current electrical fields inhibit cancer cell motility in microchannel confinements

Area of Science:

• Cellular Biophysics
• Cancer Cell Motility
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Cells sense and respond to electrical fields, a process crucial for nerve regeneration, wound healing, and development.
• In vitro, many cell types exhibit electrotaxis, migrating along electrical field vectors.
• Understanding cellular response to electrical fields is key to various biological processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the combined effects of micro-confinements and direct current electrical fields (dcEFs) on MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell motility.
• To analyze how varying microchannel sizes influence cell response to dcEFs.
• To quantify changes in cell migration speed and permeation under different confinement and electrical field conditions.

Main Methods:

• Development of a user-friendly platform with microchannels (3-11 µm width, 11 µm height).
• Application of direct current electrical fields (dcEFs) ranging from 100 mV/mm to 1000 mV/mm.
• Observation and quantification of MDA-MB-231 cell migration and permeation within microchannels.

Main Results:

• Cellular galvanotaxis was generally inhibited within micro-confinements, contrasting with enhanced galvanotaxis in unconfined conditions.
• dcEFs reduced migration speed and the number of permeating cells in microchannels.
• Applying 1000 mV/mm dcEFs prevented single-cell permeation in confinements of 5 µm or smaller.

Conclusions:

• Micro-confinements significantly alter cancer cell response to electrical fields.
• dcEFs can modulate cancer cell motility and reduce their ability to permeate confined spaces.
• This study provides insights into controlling cancer cell migration using electrical fields and micro-environmental cues.