Microfluidic Gradient Device for Studying the Mesothelial Cells' Migration and Effects of Carbon Nanotubes Chronic Exposure

TL;DRAbstract

Cell migration is one of the crucial steps in many human physiological events and diseases, including cancers. Recent studies have shown that carbon nanotubes (CNTs), like asbestos, can induce accelerated cell growth and invasiveness that contribute to their mesothelioma pathogenicity. Malignant mesothelioma is a very aggressive tumor that develops from cells of the mesothelium, and is most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos. CNTs have similar structure and mode of exposure to asbestos. This has raised a particular concern regarding the potential carcinogenicity of CNTs, especially in the pleural spaces, which are key target tissues for asbestos-related diseases.;In this thesis, a passive diffusion based microfluidic device that generates stable gradient is developed to study the migration of human lung mesothelial cells upon long-term exposure (4 months) to sub-cytotoxic concentration (0.02 microg/cm2) of single walled CNTs (SWCNTs). During the migration, we observed that the cel

Chat with Paper

AI Agents for this Paper