In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture

Chen, Hongmei; Liu, Wenting; Wang, Bin; Zhang, Zhifeng

doi:10.3390/mi9120665

Open AccessArticle

In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture

by

Hongmei Chen

^1,*,

Wenting Liu

^2,3,

Bin Wang

^1,* and

Zhifeng Zhang

^4,*

¹

School of Mathematics and Physics of Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China

²

Division of Nanobionic Research, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou 215123, China

³

University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

⁴

Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Micromachines 2018, 9(12), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9120665

Submission received: 5 November 2018 / Revised: 2 December 2018 / Accepted: 11 December 2018 / Published: 17 December 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microfluidics for Cells and Other Organisms)

Download

Browse Figures

Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Fibroblasts have significant involvement in cancer progression and are an important therapeutic target for cancer. Here, we present a microfluidic non-contact co-culture device to analyze interactions between tumor cells and fibroblasts. Further, we investigate myofibroblast behaviors induced by lung tumor cells as responses to gallic acid and baicalein. Human lung fibroblast (HLF) and lung cancer cell line (A549) cells were introduced into neighboring, separated regions by well-controlled laminar flows. The phenotypic behavior and secretion activity of the tumor cells indicate that fibroblasts could become activated through paracrine signaling to create a supportive microenvironment for cancer cells when HLF is co-cultured with A549. Furthermore, both gallic acid (GA) and baicalein (BAE) could inhibit the activation of fibroblasts. In situ analysis of various cell communications via the paracrine pathway could be realizable in this contactless co-culture single device. This device facilitates a better understanding of interactions between heterotypic cells, thus exploring the mechanism of cancer, and performs anti-invasion drug assays in a relatively complex microenvironment.

Keywords: laminar flows; paracrine signaling; co-culture

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Chen, H.; Liu, W.; Wang, B.; Zhang, Z. In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture. Micromachines 2018, 9, 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9120665

AMA Style

Chen H, Liu W, Wang B, Zhang Z. In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture. Micromachines. 2018; 9(12):665. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9120665

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chen, Hongmei, Wenting Liu, Bin Wang, and Zhifeng Zhang. 2018. "In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture" Micromachines 9, no. 12: 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9120665

APA Style

Chen, H., Liu, W., Wang, B., & Zhang, Z. (2018). In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture. Micromachines, 9(12), 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9120665

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

In Situ Analysis of Interactions between Fibroblast and Tumor Cells for Drug Assays with Microfluidic Non-Contact Co-Culture

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI