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Hong X, Xu Y, Pang SW. Enhanced motility and interaction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with epithelial cells in confined microwells. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:511-524. [PMID: 36632832 DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00616b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The three-dimensional (3D) structure of the extracellular matrix and cell-cell contacts are two important cues to altering cell migration behavior and the tumor formation process. In this work, we designed and fabricated microwell arrays with a grating-patterned bottom in polydimethylsiloxane platforms to systematically study the effects of confinement, changes in topography, and cell-cell contacts on the migration behavior of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC43) and immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial (NP460) cells by time-lapse imaging. When two types of cells were co-cultured in microwells, the migration speed and spreading area of NPC43 cells were significantly increased, which might be attributed to the heterotypic cell-cell contacts with NP460 cells. On a flat surface, NPC43 cells could not form clusters due to the frequent interruptions by the active movements of NP460 cells. However, in 3D microwell arrays, clusters of NPC43 cells formed on the bottom surface while the majority of NP460 cells migrated onto the sidewalls. These cell clusters could be further processed to form spheroids for drug screening. These results also revealed that the 3D microenvironments and cell-cell contacts could have significant implications for NPC cell migration and initiation of tumor formation, which will provide insight for NPC progression and dissemination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Hong
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Yuanhao Xu
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Stella W Pang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
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Cui X, Liu L, Li J, Liu Y, Liu Y, Hu D, Zhang R, Huang S, Jiang Z, Wang Y, Qu Y, Pang SW, Lam RHW. A Microfluidic Platform Revealing Interactions between Leukocytes and Cancer Cells on Topographic Micropatterns. BIOSENSORS 2022; 12:963. [PMID: 36354472 PMCID: PMC9687854 DOI: 10.3390/bios12110963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Immunoassay for detailed analysis of immune-cancer intercellular interactions can achieve more promising diagnosis and treatment strategies for cancers including nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). In this study, we report a microfluidic live-cell immunoassay integrated with a microtopographic environment to meet the rising demand for monitoring intercellular interactions in different tumor microenvironments. The developed assay allows: (1) coculture of immune cells and cancer cells on tunable (flat or micrograting) substrates, (2) simultaneous detection of different cytokines in a wide working range of 5-5000 pg/mL, and (3) investigation of migration behaviors of mono- and co-cultured cells on flat/grating platforms for revealing the topography-induced intercellular and cytokine responses. Cytokine monitoring was achieved on-chip by implementing a sensitive and selective microbead-based sandwich assay with an antibody on microbeads, target cytokines, and the matching fluorescent-conjugated detection antibody in an array of active peristaltic mixer-assisted cytokine detection microchambers. Moreover, this immunoassay requires a low sample volume down to 0.5 μL and short assay time (30 min) for on-chip cytokine quantifications. We validated the biocompatibility of the co-culture strategy between immune cells and NPC cells and compared the different immunological states of undifferentiated THP-1 monocytic cells or PMA-differentiated THP-1 macrophages co-culturing with NP460 and NPC43 on topographical and planar substrates, respectively. Hence, the integrated microfluidic platform provides an efficient, broad-range and precise on-chip cytokine detection approach, eliminates the manual sampling procedures and allows on-chip continuous cytokine monitoring without perturbing intercellular microenvironments on different topographical ECM substrates, which has the potential of providing clinical significance in early immune diagnosis, personalized immunotherapy, and precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Cui
- Key Laboratory of Biomaterials of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 519070, China
| | - Lelin Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Research Center of Biological Computation, Zhejiang Laboratory, Hangzhou 311100, China
| | - Jiyu Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Ya Liu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | | | - Ruolin Zhang
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Siping Huang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Zhongning Jiang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Yuchao Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Yun Qu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Stella W. Pang
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Raymond H. W. Lam
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Centre for Robotics and Automation, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518057, China
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Cheng Y, Zhu S, Pang SW. Directing osteoblastic cell migration on arrays of nanopillars and nanoholes with different aspect ratios. LAB ON A CHIP 2021; 21:2206-2216. [PMID: 33876172 DOI: 10.1039/d1lc00104c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
To realize highly directional guidance for cell migration, both micro- and nano-scale topographies were studied to better understand and mimic the complex extracellular matrix environment. Polydimethylsiloxane-based platforms with micro- and nano-topographies were developed to systematically study their guidance effects on cell migration behaviors. Compared to microtopography such as flat surface or grating, nanotopographies such as nanoholes and nanopillars could promote the generation of filopodia and extension of long protrusions with increased migration speed for MC3T3-E1 cells. Although cells on the grating structures showed lower migration speed, more directional cell migration was achieved due to their anisotropic topography compared to nanohole or nanopillar arrays with isotropic structures. To further enhance the cell migration directionality, the nanotopographies were patterned in grating arrangements and the results showed that both nanoholes and nanopillars in grating arrangements introduced more directional cell migration compared to gratings. The effects of physical dimensions of the nanotopographies on cell migration were studied and the results showed that there was less cell elongation and less directional migration of the nanoholes in grating arrangements with increasing depth of nanoholes. However, the nanopillars in grating arrangements showed more cell elongation, more directional migration, and higher migration speed with increasing height of the nanopillars. Platforms with nanopillars in grating arrangements and large height could be used to control cell migration speed and directionality, which could potentially lead to cell sorting and screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yijun Cheng
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Shuyan Zhu
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Stella W Pang
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
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Liu Y, Ren J, Zhang R, Hu S, Pang SW, Lam RHW. Spreading and Migration of Nasopharyngeal Normal and Cancer Cells on Microgratings. ACS APPLIED BIO MATERIALS 2021; 4:3224-3231. [DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.0c01610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yi Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jifeng Ren
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China
| | - Ruolin Zhang
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong
| | - Shuhuan Hu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, Guangdong China
| | - Stella W. Pang
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Raymond H. W. Lam
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China
- Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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