Researchers from MIT, Italy, and South Korea have developed a three-dimensional microfluidic platform that mimics the spread of breast cancer cells into a bonelike environment.
A microfluidic device with three channels and four gel region, used for studying cancer cell extravasation. The microchip — slightly larger than a dime — contains several channels in which the researchers grew endothelial cells and bone cells to mimic a blood vessel and bone side-by-side.
Photo: Jessie Jeon
|
A three-dimensional reconstruction of a confocal image for a bone-mimicking microenvironment (green). Endothelial cells (red), mimic blood vessels, with breast cancer cells (blue) passing through the endothelial wall, into the bone-like matrix. Photo: Jessie Jeon |