The use of High-Content Analysis Enables a High-Throughput Wound Healing Assay for Cancer Research

Mesenchymal cells have the ability to migrate throughout the body eventually resulting in distant tumors. Cancer cells maintain their migratory capacity in vitro and this is mediated by the same signaling pathways that affect the tumor in vivo. The basic mechanisms that underlie cellular movement, including polarization, actin remodeling, and growth cone formation, are preserved in both three-dimensional and two-dimensional migration. In general, the propensity of cells to close an open wound in a cellular monolayer is thought to predict their migratory ability. In this application note read about new targets that play a role in cancer cell migration; researchers at Galapagos used a human PC-3 prostate adenocarcinoma cell line, adenoviral shRNA knock-down library, and IN Cell Analyzer to develop a high-throughput scratch wound assay to screen for drugable genes that affect the motile behaviour of tumor cells.