Breast Fibroblasts and ECM Components Modulate Breast Cancer Cell Migration Through the Secretion of MMPs in a 3D Microfluidic Co-Culture Model.

ABSTRACT: The extracellular matrix (ECM) composition greatly influences cancer progression, leading to differential invasion, migration, and metastatic potential. In breast cancer, ECM components, such as fibroblasts and ECM proteins, have the potential to alter cancer cell migration. However, the lack of in vitro migration models that can vary ECM composition limits our knowledge of how specific ECM components contribute to cancer progression. Here, a microfluidic model was used to study the effect of 3D heterogeneous ECMs (i.e., fibroblasts and different ECM protein compositions) on the migration distance of a highly invasive human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. Specifically, we show that in the presence of normal breast fibroblasts, a fibronectin-rich matrix induces more cancer cell migrati

SUBMITTER: Lugo-Cintron KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7281408 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature