What is the Boyden chamber assay?

The Boyden chamber is a useful tool to study cell migration and cell invasion. It consists of a cylindrical cell culture insert nested inside the well of a cell culture plate. The insert contains a polycarbonate membrane at the bottom with a defined pore size.

How do you quantify migration assay?

Migration can be assessed by determining the number of cells that move across a microporous membrane (transwell migration assay) or by measuring the surface area that cells occupy over time after creating a ‘cell-free’ area (scratch assay) [8–10].

What is the purpose of cell migration assay?

The transwell cell migration assay measures the chemotactic capability of cells toward a chemo-attractant. The transwell cell invasion assay, however, measures both cell chemotaxis and the invasion of cells through extracellular matrix, a process that is commonly found in cancer metastasis or embryonic development.

How do you check cell motility?

The method of movement used in motile cells can be readily observed using the cell culture wound closure assay. Among the numerous ways to study cell migration, the cell wound closure assay is one of the simplest. This method is useful to determine the migration ability of whole cell masses.

How is cell proliferation measured?

A tried-and-true method of measuring proliferation by metabolism is using tetrazolium salts such as MTT, MTS or XTT. The salts are reduced by metabolically active cells to a colored formazan, which is then detected using a spectrophotometer.

How do you observe cell migration?

The simplest approach to monitoring cell migration is the so-called “scratch” assay. A pipette tip or other sharp object is used to gouge a scratch or “wound” in a confluent cell monolayer. Then a microscope is used to observe cells filling in or “repairing” the wound.

How do you test for cell invasion?

The cell suspension is placed in the top chamber and incubated in the presence of test media containing specific chemoattractants in the bottom chamber. Cells migrate from the top chamber through the coated filter pores to the bottom of the filter. Detection of cell invasion is quantified using Calcein AM.