The authors acknowledge funding from the Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and also like to thank the Australian National Fabrication Facility for the SU-8 master for the microcontact printing. SHN is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

1. Passivation of Glass Coverslips with PLL-PEG-biotin
This step is designed to passivate the surface so that cells adhere and migrate onto specific regions on the glass coverslip that are created with microcontract printing (Step 2-3a) or dip pen lithography (Step 3b). For the passivation, a co-polymer of poly-L-lysine (PLL) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used in which 20% of PEG molecules are grafted to biotin (PLL-PEG-biotin).
<ol>
 <li>To clean glass coverslips (18 mm x 18 mm), submerg...

<ol>
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We have no commercial interests to disclose.

In this protocol, we used a commercially available microfluidic device (sticky-Slide Chemotaxis 3D from Ibidi) to study the effects of chemically modified surfaces and chemoattractant gradients on cell migration. This microfluidic setup does not require flow because the gradient is established by diffusion along the length of the channel. This is important because flow could differentially affect slowly migrating cells such as fibroblasts that form stable focal adhesions and fast migrating cells like most leuk...

Directed cell migration is a fundamental property of many cells and is a key aspect of many normal physiological processes, including embryonic development, defense against infection and wound healing. In addition, cell migration also plays a prominent role in many diseases such as vascular disease, tumour cell metastasis and chronic inflammation1,2. While the classical states of cell migration - polarization, protrusion extension, formation of adhesion, force generation and rear retraction - are generally accepted3,4 , the elucidation of spatiotemporal mechanisms by which signal integration is coordinated has been more challenging.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) serves as a substrate for cell adhesion, and through inherent chemical5 and physical6 diversity, provides directional cues for cell navigation7,8. In addition to these adhesive cues9, soluble factors10-12 such as chemokines and growth factors can induce directed cell migration through chemoattractant receptors and their downstream motogenic signalling. Currently, it is not known whether engagement and signalling through adhesion receptors (i.e. integrins) or chemoattractant receptors, such as receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), are dominant. Nor is it known whether hierarchies of receptor systems are cell type specific.
Live cell microscopy gives a wealth of information that is not accessible in bulk assays and can be combined with microfluidic devices to generate gradients of immobilized 13,14 and soluble cues15 16. The method described here utilizes a series of simple and established steps for surface modification in conjunction with a commercially available microfluidic chamber to create an imaging assay for cell migration that can easily be implemented in a cell biology laboratory (Figure 1). The assembled microfluidic device has optical qualities that are comparable to glass17 and the gradients of diffusible molecules are stable for at least 16 hr. The system can be used for epifluorescence and advanced microscopy techniques. Unlike other chemotaxis setups18, this system is suitable for recording slowly migrating, adherent cells. Importantly, the system is modular and easily allows the introduction of alternative adhesive or soluble migration cues and examination of various cell types.

<table border="1">
	<tbody>
 <tr>
 <td>Name of Reagent/Material</td>
 <td>Company</td>
 <td>Catalogue Number</td>
 <td>Comments</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Coverglass staining outfits</td>
 <td>Thomas Scientific</td>
 <td>8542 E40</td>
 <td>Coverslip rack</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Oven</td>
 <td>Binder</td>
 <td></td>
 <td>ED 53 series</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Silicon wafer</td>
 <td>Silicon Quest</td>
 <td>708-007</td>
 <td>Boron doped &lt;100&gt; wafer, 4" diameter, 500 &mu;m, single side polished</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>GM1070 SU-8 photoresist</td>
 <td>Gersteltec Sarl</td>
 <td></td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>SU-8 developer</td>
 <td>Gersteltec Sarl</td>
 <td></td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Sylgard 184 curing agent</td>
 <td>Dow Corning</td>
 <td></td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Sylgard 184 elastomer prepolymer</td>
 <td>Dow Corning</td>
 <td></td>
 <td >&nbsp;</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>PLL-PEG-biotin (20%)</td>
 <td>SuSos AG</td>
 <td>PLL(20)-g[3.5]-PEG(2)/PEG(3.4)-Biotin (20%)</td>
 <td>1 mg/ml in PBS</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Fluorescein</td>
 <td>Sigma</td>
 <td>46955</td>
 <td>1 mM in PBS</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Streptavidin-AlexaFluor350</td>
 <td>Invitrogen</td>
 <td>S-11249</td>
 <td>1 mg/ml in PBS</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Biotin-4-fluorescein</td>
 <td>Invitrogen</td>
 <td>B-1370</td>
 <td>0.03 &mu;g/&mu;l in PBS</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Biotin-RGD</td>
 <td>GenScript</td>
 <td>SC1208</td>
 <td>0.03 mg/ml in PBS</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Syto 64 Red</td>
 <td>Invitrogen</td>
 <td> S-11346 </td>
 <td>1 &mu;M in PBS</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Sticky slide chemotaxis 3D</td>
 <td>Ibidi</td>
 <td>80328</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>200 &mu;l Greiner yellow bevelled tip</td>
 <td>Greiner Bio-One</td>
 <td>739261</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Vaseline</td>
 <td>Sigma</td>
 <td>16415</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Paraffin wax, mp 55-57 &deg;C</td>
 <td>Sigma</td>
 <td>327204</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Nano eNabler 10 &mu;m cantilever </td>
 <td>BioForce</td>
 <td>SPT-S-C-10s</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Image J software</td>
 <td>National Institute of Health</td>
 <td></td>
 <td ><a href="http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/download.html" target="_blank">rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/download.html</a></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Manual Tracking plugin</td>
 <td>Fabrice Cordeli&egrave;res</td>
 <td></td>
 <td ><a href="http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/plugins/track/track.html" target="_blank">rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/plugins/track/track.html</a></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Chemotaxis and Migration Tool</td>
 <td>Ibidi GmbH</td>
 <td></td>
 <td><a href="http://www.ibidi.com/applications/ap_chemotaxis.html" target="_blank">www.ibidi.com/applications/ap_chemotaxis.html</a></td>
 </tr>
	 </tbody>
 </table>

creating adhesive and soluble gradients for imaging cell migration with fluorescence microscopy

Cells can sense and migrate towards higher concentrations of adhesive cues such as the glycoproteins of the extracellular matrix and soluble cues such as growth factors. Here, we outline a method to create opposing gradients of adhesive and soluble cues in a microfluidic chamber, which is compatible with live cell imaging. A copolymer of poly-L-lysine and polyethylene glycol (PLL-PEG) is employed to passivate glass coverslips and prevent non-specific adsorption of biomolecules and cells. Next, microcontact printing or dip pen lithography are used to create tracks of streptavidin on the passivated surfaces to serve as anchoring points for the biotinylated peptide arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) as the adhesive cue. A microfluidic device is placed onto the modified surface and used to create the gradient of adhesive cues (100% RGD to 0% RGD) on the streptavidin tracks. Finally, the same microfluidic device is used to create a gradient of a chemoattractant such as fetal bovine serum (FBS), as the soluble cue in the opposite direction of the gradient of adhesive cues.

To understand how cell integrate migratory signals25, we have developed a method to image cells with fluorescence microscopy that migrate in an environment with competing adhesive and soluble gradients (Figure 1). Adhesive tracks that contained fluorescent streptavidin and biotinylated RGD were created with microcontact printed tracks and dip pen lithography (Figure 2). Successful microcontact printing is indicated by the line profile of the fluorescence intensity across the t...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Creating Adhesive and Soluble Gradients for Imaging Cell Migration with Fluorescence Microscopy at JoVE.com

Creating Adhesive and Soluble Gradients for Imaging Cell Migration with Fluorescence Microscopy

A method for the assembly of adhesive and soluble gradients in a microscopy chamber for live cell migration studies is described. The engineered environment combines antifouling surfaces and adhesive tracks with solution gradients and therefore allows one to determine the relative importance of guidance cues.

Cells can sense and migrate towards higher concentrations of adhesive cues such as the glycoproteins of the extracellular matrix and soluble cues such as ...

creating-adhesive-soluble-gradients-for-imaging-cell-migration-with

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JoVE Journal

Bioengineering

12.5K visualizações.  The University of New South Wales. Um método para a montagem de gradientes de adesivo e solúvel em uma câmara de microscopia para estudos de migração de células vivas é descrito. O ambiente artificial combina superfícies antivegetativas e faixas adesivas com gradientes de solução e, portanto, permite que se determine a importância relativa das pistas de orientação.