There are many different methods to study cell migration including scratch assays, microfluidic based assays, cell-exclusion zone assays, Boyden Chamber assays and so on. The Boyden Chamber assay, which is based on a chamber of two medium-filled compartment separated by a polycarbonate membrane, is a widely accepted and useful cell migration technology. It works like this. Generally speaking, cells are seeded in the upper compartment and allowed to migrate through the pores to the other side of the membrane into the lower compartment. In the lower compartment, the chemoattractants and chemotactic agents are present. Migratory cells move toward the chemoattractant and pass through the membrane getting into the lower compartment. After an appropriate incubation time, the cells migrated through the pores can be fixed and stained, then the number of the cells can be quantified. The cell's chemotactic affinity can be determined by this method.
Figure 1. the principle and results of Boyden Chamber
In addition, the use of the Boyden Chamber assay has great advantages comparing to other motility assays. First, it is versatile in the researching of cell motility, especially in the aspect of intracellular signaling pathways and cell surface proteins on cell motility. Second, the Boyden Chamber assay allows the research of cell motility without the consideration of the interference of cell proliferation and the assay is also time saving. Third, the Boyden Chamber assay can also exclude the interference of the interactions between cells. It’s helpful to research the underlying mechanisms of cell motility.
Boyden Chamber assay can be used to research both cell migration and cell invasion. There are several types of assays that we can provide the service:
Chemotaxis (cell migration/invasion): this assay can determine the cell motility toward or away from the particular chemical signal.
Haptotaxis (cell migration/invasion): this assay can determine the cell motility indicated by extracellular matrices, media supplements, dissociation solution and so on.
Figure 2. The results of Boyden Chamber
All these assays have two standards: 24-well and 96-well. And the diameter of the membrane can be defined to suit for the subject the cells. We can also offer flexible, standardized, high-throughput and customer tailored experiment designs.
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