Designs of microfluidic devices for cell migration study in chemical gradients (review)

Directional cell migration plays an important role in physiological processes, such as living beings protection from infections and virus, wound healing, cancer metastasis, etc. Cell migration, among other things, depend on exposure of chemical concentration gradients on cells. Recently, microfluidic devices have been applied to the study of cell migration. These devices allow to perform precise configure and manipulation of chemical gradients that is opening up new possibilities in studies of complex interactions of cells within a population and an environment. The review is devoted to achievements related to the development of microfluidic devices for the study of chemical gradients influence on cell migration. Moreover, a classification of these devices and their comparison with conventional approaches used in cell biology to solve similar problems have been highlighted.