Tumor Cell Invasion Assay

Cell invasion assays have been used to study the interactions between tumor cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM), which not only provides a structural scaffold for the cell, but also contains various biological factors for the survival and growth of the cell. ECM gel contains the basic components of the ECM that provides a structural support for the cell to grow and move. Cells can secrete enzymes that degrade certain components of the ECM to move towards chemoattractants, or to simply establish niches for growth. Metastatic tumor cells often show more invasiveness to the ECM gel due to their higher motility and/or enzymatic activity for degrading ECM components. This protocol describes a tumor cell invasion assay to study the interactions between tumor cells and the ECM.