Modeling of Cell Migration Assays

Cell motility is important in embryonic development, wound-healing, and the metastasis of cancer. There are different stimuli that guide cell motility in biological tissue. One of these stimuli is electrical in nature (the others being chemical and mechanical), and the mobility of cells under the presence of electric fields is called electrotaxis. It is well known that potential differences on the order of 20mV to 50mV exist across epithelial tissue. It is also known that when epithelial tissue is compromised resulting in a wound, a short circuit is created across the basement membrane. This endogenous electric field drives a flow of electrical current and cells towards the more negative site of the wound, driving closure. If bioelectricity plays an important role in moving cells in specific directions, then increasing the strength of the electric field and varying its direction in vivo can either accelerate or decelerate cell movement as desired. Bioelectricity therefore offers the possibility of controlling and potentially accelerating wound-healing or retarding the metastasis of cancer. Conventional methods of studying and inducing electrotaxis have involved the use of metal electrodes placed in contact with the tissue or medium containing cells using agar salt bridges. This approach raises the possibility o