Microfluidic Collective Cell Migration Assay for Study of Endothelial Cell Proliferation and Migration under Combinations of Oxygen Gradients, Tensions, and Drug Treatments

Proliferation and migration of endothelial cells play an important role in many biological activities, and they can be regulated by various microenvironmental factors. In this paper, a novel microfluidic collective cell migration assay is developed to study endothelial cell migration and proliferation under combinations of three oxygen conditions: normoxia, oxygen gradient, and hypoxia and three medium compositions: normal growth medium, the medium with cytochalasin-D for actin polymerization inhibition, and with YC-1 for hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) inhibition. The microfluidic device designed in the paper allows cell patterns formed with consistent dimensions using laminar flow patterning. In addition, stable oxygen gradients can be generated within the device by a spatially confined chemical reaction method. The device can be operated in conventional cell incubators with minimal chemical reagents and instrumentation for practical applications. The results show directional collective cell migration of the endothelial cells under the oxygen gradients for all the medium compositions. The directional behavior has never been discussed before, and indicates critical roles of oxygen gradients in guiding endothelial cell migration during various biological activities. The developed assay provides a practical yet powerful tool for further in vitro study of endothelial cell behaviors under various physiological microenvironments.