Quantitative analysis of autocrine-regulated, matrix-induced, and tumor cell-stimulated endothelial cell migration using a silicon template compartmentalization technique.

Autocrine-regulated, matrix-induced, and tumor cell-stimulated endothelial cell migration was quantitatively analyzed using a two-dimensional, two-compartment coculture system. Silicon templates were used to subdivide 35-mm tissue culture dishes into two separate compartments. Endothelial cells were grown to confluence in the inner compartment and released from growth arrest by removal of the silicon template. The distance of endothelial cell outgrowth from the monolayer was measured in 24-h intervals. Endothelial cells from different vascular beds migrated with different migration rates (large vessel endothelial cells greater than hemangioendothelioma cells greater than microvessel endothelial cells). Prior coating of tissue culture wells with fibronectin, type I collagen, or type IV collagen and increasing serum concentrations strongly enhanced endothelial cell migration. Seeding tumor cells into the outer compartment prior to removal of the silicon template permitted the direct coculture analysis of tumor cell-induced endothelial cell migration. Microvascular endothelial cell migration was stimulated in a tumor cell number-dependent fashion, whereas large vessel endothelial cells could not consistently be stimulated by coculture with tumor cells. It is concluded that silicon templates offer a useful approach for the quantitative study of migration of anchorage-dependent cells, permitting follow-up measurements over several days, the study of matrix effects, and the direct coculture analysis of cell migration.