A worm-cell coculture device for studying nematode migration and behavior in a multicellular microenvironment.

<p>(<b>A</b>) A rendering of the aluminum mold used to cast the PDMS device (<b>B</b>) A rendering of the PDMS-based coculture device consisting of seven parallel lanes. (<b>C</b>) A top-view schematic showing the various regions discussed in this study. Each cell region occupies approximately 25% of the total lane area. The ‘humidifier’ is filled with water in order to limit media evaporation, flow lanes are included in the device for future flow-related experiments but were not utilized in the current study. (<b>D</b>) LECs and HDFs cultured in the device before and after a 3-hour exposure time to the worm (blue = nucleus, green = Actin). Spreading of the cells was less pronounced than what would be seen on polystyrene plates due to the surface roughness of the machine PDMS mold. The presence of the worms in the device did not seem to affect cell viability.