Name: puramatrix encapsulation of cancer cells
Uploaded: 2009-12-17T17:00:00
Duration: 7 min 8 s
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about PuraMatrix Encapsulation of Cancer Cells at JoVE.com

Technical Notes:
<ul>
 <li>Gelation is initiated by the addition of salts. Therefore, it is CRITICAL that no salts come in contact with PuraMatrix until gelation is desired; exposure to salts of very low ionic strength (e.g., &lt; 0.05 M) will cause irreversible gelation.</li>
 <li>Leftover stock solutions that are prepared can be used at a later date provided they have not come in contact with salts. You do not need to worry about repeat sonication.</li>
 <li>Air bubbles can be removed aliquoting PuraMatrix into sterile tubes followed by centrifugation.</li>
 <li>Be very careful during media changes as aspiration can easily disrupt the PuraMatrix bed.</li>
</ul>
Materials:
BD PuraMatrix RAD16 Peptide Hydrogel-1% (Cat # 354250): The total peptide concentration of the undiluted mixture is 10 mg/ml.
<ul>
<li>Water Bath Sonicator or Vortex</li>
<li>96-well cell culture dish</li>
<li>Cell Culture Media</li>
<li>Sterile Filtered H2O</li>
<li>Sterile Filtered 20% Sucrose</li>
<li>Cells (all at 5,000 cells/well): OVCAR-5</li>
</ul>
All steps must be performed under aseptic conditions.
Procedure:
<ol>
	<li>Sonicate the 1% PuraMatrix (RAD16) in a water bath sonicator for 30 minutes to reduce the viscosity prior to use.</li>
	<li>The 1% PuraMatrix solution can now be aliquoted into sterile tubes to simplify future experiments.
	<ol class="lalpha">
		<li>Avoid the formation of air bubbles; if they form simply spin down the sterile tubes containing PuraMatrix at 1000 rpm (300 x g) for 5 minutes.</li>
		<li>The total peptide concentration of the undiluted mixture is 10 mg/ml.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Two sets of 4 wells will be plated at 2.5 mg/ml and 1.25 mg/ml total peptide concentration, respectively.</li>
	<li>Dilute the PuraMatrix in each well set with 0.2 &mu;m sterile filtered 20% sucrose and 13.3% sucrose to total peptide concentrations of 5 mg/ml and 2.5 mg/ml, respectively to achieve a 2x concentration of BD PuraMatrix in 10% sucrose.
	<ol class="lalpha">
		<li>To Make 20% sucrose, dilute 10 g of sucrose, then volume to 50 ml water.</li>
		<li>13% and 10% sucrose can be prepared by diluting the 20% stock solution.
		<ol class="lroman">
			<li>13% Sucrose (for every 10 ml):&nbsp; 6.5 ml 20% sucrose + 3.5 ml sterile H2O.</li>
			<li>10% Sucrose (for every 10 ml): 5.0 ml 20% sucrose + 5.0 ml sterile H2O.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
	</ol>
 </li>
	<li>Prepare a master mix of PuraMatrix peptide based on the number of wells you intend to plate. (See example below.) Then aliquot into individual tubes containing 25 ml of the master mix.
	<ol class="lalpha">
		<li>The master mix should be prepared at twice the desired final concentration of total peptide as it will be diluted with an equal volume of cells during plating. <img src="/files/ftp_upload/1692/1692_fig11.jpg" alt="figure 1" /></li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Prepare cell suspensions by trypsinizing cell monolayer cell cultures.
	<ol class="lalpha">
		<li>2 ml of 0.05% Trypsin EDTA can be used for each T-75 Flask.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Neutralize the trypsin by addition of cell culture media containing 10% heat inactivated fetal bovine serum (use at least 2 ml of media per ml of trypsin used in the previous step.)</li>
	<li>Centrifuge the cells at 1000 rpm (~ 300 x g) for 5 minutes to create a cell pellet.
 <ol>
		<li>Resuspend the cells in 10% sterile filtered sucrose.</li>
		<li>Count the cells and spin down again at 1000 rpm (~ 300 x g) for 5 minutes to remove trace amounts of salt found in the media.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Resuspend the OVCAR-5 cells in 10% sucrose at 2.0 x 105 cells/ml so that the final cell count per well will be 5,000 cells in each well. 
The following steps should be performed rapidly. </li>
 <li>Add 25 &mu;l of the 2.0 x 105 cells/ml suspension to the first individual tube containing 25 &mu;l of the master mix of PuraMatrix as shown in the above schematic.
 <ol class="lalpha">
 <li>Quickly mix by pipetting (~5 times up and down) in the tube without introducing air bubbles.</li>
 <li>Then pipette the 50 &mu;l cell suspension/PuraMatrix mixture into the appropriate well of a 96 well dish.</li>
 <li>Initiate gelation of the BD PuraMatrix by gently pipetting 150 &mu;l cell culture media (RPMI + 10% FBS) &nbsp;to the side of the well <img src="/files/ftp_upload/1692/1692_fig12.jpg" alt="figure 2" /></li>
 </ol>
 </li>
 <li>Repeat the steps outlined in 8 until all wells have been plated.</li>
 <li>After 30 minutes Very Gently remove ~2/3 of the media using a 200 &mu;l pipette to equilibrate the pH of the hydrogel.
 <ol class="lalpha">
 <li>DO NOT USE A VACUUM ASPIRATOR AS THIS WILL DISRUPT THE MATRIX </li>
 <li>Place the pipette tip in the well so that it does not touch the PuraMatrix bed and gently remove media from the well. </li>
 <li>Care should be taken to not disrupt the matrix during the culture of cells in PuraMatrix. </li>
 </ol>
 </li>
 <li>Very Gently add 150 &mu;l of fresh cell culture media to the side of the well containing cells encapsulated in PuraMatrix.</li>
 <li>Change the cell culture media in each well every 48 hours with fresh culture media by carefully repeating steps 10 and 11.</li>
 </ol>
Representative Results:
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/1692/1692_fig1tmb.jpg" alt="figure 1" border="0" /> Figure 1. OVCAR-5 cells were encapsulated as described in the above protocol. Images were acquired using an inverted Olympus FV1000 microscope equipped with Spectra-Physics DeepSee Ti:Sapphire laser tuned to 750 nm. Imaging sessions were conducted on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 post-plating. A long working distance, water dipping 40x objective (Olympus LUMPLFLN 0.8 NA) was used to image through the PuraMatrix. Three-dimensional volumes were collected by acquiring image stacks in 1.47 &mu;m axial steps. Two non-descanned detectors collected the autofluorescence emission using violet (440-490 nm) and green (510-550 nm) bandpass filters. The final images and depth stack movies were processed using ImageJ by combining both detection channels. Please <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/1692/1692_fig1.jpg">click here</a> to see a larger version of figure 1.

<ol>
	<li>Gelain, F., Bottai, D., Vescovi, A., Zhang, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Designer+self-assembling+Peptide+nanofiber+scaffolds+for+adult+mouse+neural+stem+cell+3-dimensional+cultures.">Designer self-assembling Peptide nanofiber scaffolds for adult mouse neural stem cell 3-dimensional cultures.</a> PLoS One. 1, e119-e119 (2006).</li></ol>

puramatrix encapsulation of cancer cells

Increasing evidence suggests that culturing cancer cells in three dimensions more accurately recapitulates the complexity of tumor biology. Many of these models utilize reconstituted basement membrane derived from animals which contain a variable amount of growth factors and cytokines that can influence the growth of these cell culture models. Here, we describe in detail the preparation and use of PuraMatrix, a commercially available self assembling peptide gel that is devoid of animal-derived material and pathogens to encapsulate and propagate the ovarian cancer cell line, OVCAR-5. We begin by describing how to prepare the PuraMatrix prior to use. Next, we demonstrate how to properly mix the PuraMatrix and cell suspension to encapsulate the cells in the hydrogel. Upon the addition of cell culture media or injection into a physiological environment, the peptide component of PuraMatrix rapidly self assembles into a 3D hydrogel that exhibits a nanometer scale fibrous structure with an average pore size of 5-200 nm1. In addition, we demonstrate how to propagate cultures grown in encapsulated PuraMatrix. When encapsulated in PuraMatrix, OVCAR-5 cells assemble into three dimensional acinar structures that more closely resemble the morphology of micrometastatic nodules observed in the clinic than monolayer in vitro models. Using confocal microscopy we illustrate the appearance of representative OVCAR-5 cells encapsulated in PuraMatrix on day 1, 3, 5, and 7 post plating. The use of PuraMatrix to culture cancer cells should improve our understanding of the disease and allow us to assess treatment response in more clinically predictive model systems.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about PuraMatrix Encapsulation of Cancer Cells at JoVE.com

PuraMatrix Encapsulation of Cancer Cells

This video demonstrates how to encapsulate and culture cancer cells in PuraMatrix, a commercially available self assembling peptide gel.

Increasing evidence suggests that culturing cancer cells in three dimensions more accurately recapitulates the complexity of tumor biology. Many of these ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

Title Cell Encapsulation by Droplets

Cellular Encapsulation in 3D Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering 

The 3D encapsulation of cells within hydrogels represents an increasingly important and popular technique for culturing cells and towards the development of constructs for tissue engineering. This environment better mimics what cells observe in vivo, compared to standard tissue culture, due to the tissue-like properties and 3D environment. Synthetic polymeric hydrogels are water-swollen networks that can be designed to be stable or to degrade through hydrolysis or proteolysis as new tissue is deposited by encapsulated cells. A wide variety of polymers have been explored for these applications, such as poly(ethylene glycol) and hyaluronic acid. Most commonly, the polymer is functionalized with reactive groups such as methacrylates or acrylates capable of undergoing crosslinking through various mechanisms. In the past decade, much progress has been made in engineering these microenvironments - e.g., via the physical or pendant covalent incorporation of biochemical cues - to improve viability and direct cellular phenotype, including the differentiation of encapsulated stem cells (Burdick et al.).
The following methods for the 3D encapsulation of cells have been optimized in our and other laboratories to maximize cytocompatibility and minimize the number of hydrogel processing steps. In the following protocols (see Figure 1 for an illustration of the procedure), it is assumed that functionalized polymers capable of undergoing crosslinking are already in hand; excellent reviews of polymer chemistry as applied to the field of tissue engineering may be found elsewhere (Burdick et al.) and these methods are compatible with a range of polymer types. Further, the Michael-type addition (see Lutolf et al.) and light-initiated free radical (see Elisseeff et al.) mechanisms focused on here constitute only a small portion of the reported crosslinking techniques. Mixed mode crosslinking, in which a portion of reactive groups is first consumed by addition crosslinking and followed by a radical mechanism, is another commonly used and powerful paradigm for directing the phenotype of encapsulated cells (Khetan et al., Salinas et al.).

Cellular Encapsulation in 3D Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering

We present protocols for the 3-dimensional (3D) encapsulation of cells within synthetic hydrogels. The encapsulation procedure is outlined for two commonly used methods of crosslinking (michael-type addition and light-initiated free radical mechanisms), as well as a number of techniques for assessing encapsulated cell behavior.

The 3D encapsulation of cells within hydrogels represents an increasingly important and popular technique for culturing cells and towards the development ...

Derivation of Mouse Trophoblast Stem Cells from Blastocysts

Specification of the trophectoderm is one of the earliest differentiation events of mammalian development. The trophoblast lineage derived from the trophectoderm mediates implantation and generates the fetal part of the placenta. As a result, the development of this lineage is essential for embryo survival. Derivation of trophoblast stem (TS) cells from mouse blastocysts was first described by Tanaka et al. 1998. The ability of TS cells to preserve the trophoblast specific property and their expression of stage- and cell type-specific markers after proper stimulation provides a valuable model system to investigate trophoblast lineage development whereby recapitulating early placentation events. Furthermore, trophoblast cells are one of the few somatic cell types undergoing natural genome amplification. Although the molecular pathways underlying trophoblast polyploidization have begun to unravel, the physiological role and advantage of trophoblast genome amplification remains largely elusive. The development of diploid stem cells into polyploid trophoblast cells in culture makes this ex vivo system an excellent tool for elucidating the regulatory mechanism of genome replication and instability in health and disease. Here we describe a protocol based on previous reports with modification published in Chiu et al. 2008.

In this video, we demonstrate the isolation of mouse blastocysts and the derivation of trophoblast stem cells from blastocysts. We also describe conditions for maintenance of the stem cell property as well as induction of differentiation in culture.

Specification of the trophectoderm is one of the earliest differentiation events of mammalian development. The trophoblast lineage derived from the ...

Isolation of Stem Cells from Human Pancreatic Cancer Xenografts

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in a growing number of malignancies and are functionally defined by their ability to undergo self-renewal and produce differentiated progeny1. These properties allow CSCs to recapitulate the original tumor when injected into immunocompromised mice. CSCs within an epithelial malignancy were first described in breast cancer and found to display specific cell surface antigen expression (CD44+CD24low/-)2. Since then, CSCs have been identified in an increasing number of other human malignancies using CD44 and CD24 as well as a number of other surface antigens. Physiologic properties, including aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity, have also been used to isolate CSCs from malignant tissues3-5.
Recently, we and others identified CSCs from pancreatic adenocarcinoma based on
ALDH activity and the expression of the cell surface antigens CD44 and CD24, and CD1336-8. These highly tumorigenic populations may or may not be overlapping and display other functions. We found that ALDH+ and CD44+CD24+ pancreatic CSCs are similarly tumorigenic, but ALDH+ cells are relatively more invasive8. In this protocol we describe a method to isolate viable pancreatic CSCs from low-passage human
xenografts9. Xenografted tumors are harvested from mice and made into a single-cell suspension. Tissue debris and dead cells are separated from live cells and then stained using antibodies against CD44 and CD24 and using the ALDEFLUOR reagent,
a fluorescent substrate of ALDH10. CSCs are then isolated by fluorescence activated cell sorting. Isolated CSCs can then be used for analytical or functional assays requiring viable cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in a number of malignancies. In this protocol we describe a flow cytometric method utilizing aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and CD44 and CD24 expression to isolate CSCs from human pancreatic adenocarcinoma xenografts. These viable cells can then be used in functional and analytical studies.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in a growing number of malignancies and are functionally defined by their ability to undergo self-renewal ...

Isolation and Culture of Adult Epithelial Stem Cells from Human Skin

The homeostasis of all self-renewing tissues is dependent on adult stem cells. As undifferentiated stem cells undergo asymmetric divisions, they generate daughter cells that retain the stem cell phenotype and transit-amplifying cells (TA cells) that migrate from the stem cell niche, undergo rapid proliferation and terminally differentiate to repopulate the tissue.
Epithelial stem cells have been identified in the epidermis, hair follicle, and intestine as cells with a high in vitro proliferative potential and as slow-cycling label-retaining cells in vivo 1-3. Adult, tissue-specific stem cells are responsible for the regeneration of the tissues in which they reside during normal physiologic turnover as well as during times of stress 4-5. Moreover, stem cells are generally considered to be multi-potent, possessing the capacity to give rise to multiple cell types within the tissue 6. For example, rodent hair follicle stem cells can generate epidermis, sebaceous glands, and hair follicles 7-9. We have shown that stem cells from the human hair follicle bulge region exhibit multi-potentiality 10.
Stem cells have become a valuable tool in biomedical research, due to their utility as an in vitro system for studying developmental biology, differentiation, tumorigenesis and for their possible therapeutic utility. It is likely that adult epithelial stem cells will be useful in the treatment of diseases such as ectodermal dysplasias, monilethrix, Netherton syndrome, Menkes disease, hereditary epidermolysis bullosa and alopecias 11-13. Additionally, other skin problems such as burn wounds, chronic wounds and ulcers will benefit from stem cell related therapies 14,15. Given the potential for reprogramming of adult cells into a pluripotent state (iPS cells)16,17, the readily accessible and expandable adult stem cells in human skin may provide a valuable source of cells for induction and downstream therapy for a wide range of disease including diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

A rapid, robust way of isolating viable adult epithelial stem cells from human skin is described. The method utilizes enzymatic digestion of skin collagen matrix , followed by plucking of hair follicles and isolation of single cell suspensions or tissue fragments for cell culture.

The homeostasis of all self-renewing tissues is dependent on adult stem cells. As undifferentiated stem cells undergo asymmetric divisions, they generate ...

Flow Cytometry Purification of Mouse Meiotic Cells

The heterogeneous nature of cell types in the testis and the absence of meiotic cell culture models have been significant hurdles to the study of the unique differentiation programs that are manifest during meiosis. Two principal methods have been developed to purify, to varying degrees, various meiotic fractions from both adult and immature animals: elutriation or Staput (sedimentation) using BSA and/or percoll gradients. Both of these methods rely on cell size and density to separate meiotic cells1-5. Overall, except for few cell populations6, these protocols fail to yield sufficient purity of the numerous meiotic cell populations that are necessary for detailed molecular analyses. Moreover, with such methods usually one type of meiotic cells can be purified at a given time, which adds an extra level of complexity regarding the reproducibility and homogeneity when comparing meiotic cell samples.
Here, we describe a refined method that allows one to easily visualize, identify, and purify meiotic cells, from germ cells to round spermatids, using FACS combined with Hoechst 33342 staining7,8. This method provides an overall snapshot of the entire meiotic process and allows one to highly purify viable cells from most stage of meiosis. These purified cells can then be analyzed in detail for molecular changes that accompany progression through meiosis, for example changes in gene expression9,10and the dynamics of nucleosome occupancy at hotspots of meiotic recombination11.

An efficient method to obtain highly purified viable meiotic fractions from mouse testis is described, which combines a refined cell dissociation protocol with fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS). This method takes advantage of differences in the DNA content and nuclear density of discrete meiotic fractions.

The heterogeneous nature of cell types in the testis and the absence of meiotic cell culture models have been significant hurdles to the study of the ...

Ex Vivo Culture of Primary Human Fallopian Tube Epithelial Cells

Epithelial ovarian cancer is a leading cause of female cancer mortality in the United States. In contrast to other women-specific cancers, like breast and uterine carcinomas, where death rates have fallen in recent years, ovarian cancer cure rates have remained relatively unchanged over the past two decades 1. This is largely due to the lack of appropriate screening tools for detection of early stage disease where surgery and chemotherapy are most effective 2, 3. As a result, most patients present with advanced stage disease and diffuse abdominal involvement. This is further complicated by the fact that ovarian cancer is a heterogeneous disease with multiple histologic subtypes 4, 5. Serous ovarian carcinoma (SOC) is the most common and aggressive subtype and the form most often associated with mutations in the BRCA genes. Current experimental models in this field involve the use of cancer cell lines and mouse models to better understand the initiating genetic events and pathogenesis of disease 6, 7. Recently, the fallopian tube has emerged as a novel site for the origin of SOC, with the fallopian tube (FT) secretory epithelial cell (FTSEC) as the proposed cell of origin 8, 9. There are currently no cell lines or culture systems available to study the FT epithelium or the FTSEC. Here we describe a novel ex vivo culture system where primary human FT epithelial cells are cultured in a manner that preserves their architecture, polarity, immunophenotype, and response to physiologic and genotoxic stressors. This ex vivo model provides a useful tool for the study of SOC, allowing a better understanding of how tumors can arise from this tissue, and the mechanisms involved in tumor initiation and progression.

Ex Vivo Culture of Primary Human Fallopian Tube Epithelial Cells

The fallopian tube (FT) is emerging as an alternative site of origin for serous ovarian carcinoma (SOC). This protocol describes a novel method for the isolation and ex vivo culture of fallopian tube epithelial cells. This system recapitulates the in vivo epithelium and allows the study of SOC pathogenesis.

Epithelial ovarian cancer is a leading cause of female cancer mortality in the United States. In contrast to other women-specific cancers, like breast and ...

Visualization of the Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICC) Network in Mice

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are mesenchymal derived "pacemaker cells" of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that generate spontaneous slow waves required for peristalsis and mediate neuronal input from the enteric nervous system1. Different subtypes of ICC form distinct networks in the muscularis of the GI tract 2,3. Loss or injury to these networks is associated with a number of motility disorders4. ICC cells express the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase on the plasma membrane and KIT immunostaining has been used for the past 15 years to label the ICC network5,6. Importantly, normal KIT activity is required for ICC development5,6. Neoplastic transformation of ICC cells results in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), that frequently harbor gain-of-function KIT mutations7,8. We recently showed that ETV1 is a lineage-specific survival factor expressed in the ICC/GIST lineage and is a master transcriptional regulator required for both normal ICC network formation and for of GIST tumorigenesis9. We further demonstrate that it cooperates with activating KIT mutations in tumorigenesis. Here, we describe methods for visualization of ICC networks in mice, largely based on previously published protocols10,11. More recently, the chloride channel anoctamin 1 (ANO1) has also been characterized as a specific membrane marker of ICC11,12. Because of their plasma membrane localization, immunofluorescence of both proteins can be used to visualize the ICC networks. Here, we describe visualization of the ICC networks by fixed-frozen cyrosections and whole mount preparations.

Visualization of the Interstitial Cells of Cajal ICC Network in Mice

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are the pacemaker cells of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. They form complex networks between smooth muscle cells and post-ganglionic neuronal fibers to regulate GI contractility. Here, we present immunofluorescence methods cross-sectional and whole-mount visualization of murine ICC networks.

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are mesenchymal derived "pacemaker cells" of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that generate spontaneous slow waves ...

Isolation of Immune Cells from Primary Tumors

Tumors create a unique immunosuppressive microenvironment (tumor microenvironment, TME) whereby leukocytes are recruited into the tumor by various chemokines and growth factors 1,2. However, once in the TME, these cells lose the ability to promote anti-tumor immunity and begin to support tumor growth and down-regulate anti-tumor immune responses 3-4. Studies on tumor-associated leukocytes have mainly focused on cells isolated from tumor-draining lymph nodes or spleen due to the inherent difficulties in obtaining sufficient cell numbers and purity from the primary tumor. While identifying the mechanisms of cell activation and trafficking through the lymphatic system of tumor bearing mice is important and may give insight to the kinetics of immune responses to cancer, in our experience, many leukocytes, including dendritic cells (DCs), in tumor-draining lymph nodes have a different phenotype than those that infiltrate tumors 5,6 . Furthermore, we have previously demonstrated that adoptively-transferred T cells isolated from the tumor-draining lymph nodes are not tolerized and are capable of responding to secondary stimulation in vitro unlike T cells isolated from the TME, which are tolerized and incapable of proliferation or cytokine production 7,8. Interestingly, we have shown that changing the tumor microenvironment, such as providing CD4+ T helper cells via adoptive transfer, promotes CD8+ T cells to maintain pro-inflammatory effector functions 5. The results from each of the previously mentioned studies demonstrate the importance of measuring cellular responses from TME-infiltrating immune cells as opposed to cells that remain in the periphery. To study the function of immune cells which infiltrate tumors using the Miltenyi Biotech isolation system9, we have modified and optimized this antibody-based isolation procedure to obtain highly enriched populations of antigen presenting cells and tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The protocol includes a detailed dissection of murine prostate tissue from a spontaneous prostate tumor model (TRansgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate -TRAMP) 10 and a subcutaneous melanoma (B16) tumor model followed by subsequent purification of various leukocyte populations.

In this report, we describe a protocol for isolating highly purified populations of leukocytes that infiltrate tumors. This protocol is adapted from the Miltenyi Biotech protocol to enhance yield and purity for isolating cells from complex tumor tissue.

Tumors create a unique immunosuppressive microenvironment (tumor microenvironment, TME) whereby leukocytes are recruited into the tumor by various ...

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during development. Misregulation of this process has been implicated as a key event in fibrosis and the progression of carcinomas to a metastatic state. Understanding the processes that underlie EMT is imperative for the early diagnosis and clinical control of these disease states. Reliable induction of EMT in vitro is a useful tool for drug discovery as well as to identify common gene expression signatures for diagnostic purposes. Here we demonstrate a straightforward method for the induction of EMT in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells pre- and post-EMT induction by immunocytochemistry are also included. Additionally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of this method through antibody-based array analysis and migration/invasion assays.

A straightforward method is described for the induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells in EMT states by immunocytochemistry are included.

Epithelial  to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during  development. Misregulation of this  process has been implicated ...