Figure 3.

Tumor spheroid invasion in composite hydrogel. (A) Schematic illustration of Tumor invasion inside of hydrogels. GelMA hydrogel inhibits cell invasion while collagen promotes cell invasion. The composite hydrogel containing both GelMA and collagen component formed a 3D environment that allows invasive cells to digest matrix and invade, while the non-invasive cells were confined in their original positions. (B–E) are the comparison of cellular behavior among four types of cancer cells in Matrigel and in composite hydrogels, including: invasive breast cancer cells (MDA-MB231), less-invasive breast cancer cells (MCF7), invasive lung cancer cells (NCI-H23), and less-invasive colon cancer cells (HT29), respectively. Scale bar: 400 μm.