Transwell Migration
Transwell Migration - Related Videos
08:24
The Transwell Migration Assay
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2023
Cells migration in response to chemical cues is crucial to development, immunity and disease states such as cancer. To quantify cell migration, a simple assay was developed in 1961 by Dr. Stephen Boyden, which is now known as the transwell migration assay or Boyden chamber assay. This set-up consists an insert which separates the wells of a multiwell plate into top and bottom compartments. Cells whose migration is to be studied are seeded into the top compartment and the chemoattractant...
08:52
An Introduction to Cell Motility and Migration
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2023
Cell motility and migration play important roles in both normal biology and in disease. On one hand, migration allows cells to generate complex tissues and organs during development, but on the other hand, the same mechanisms are used by tumor cells to move and spread in a process known as cancer metastasis. One of the primary cellular machineries that make cell movement possible is an intracellular network of myosin and actin molecules, together known as “actomyosin”, which creates a...
09:55
In vitro Cell Migration and Invasion Assays
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Cited by 627 •
2014
Commonly used, highly accessible methods for examining cell migration and invasion in vitro are described. The first method is the cell wound closure assay that measures cell motility. The second method is the transwell migration and invasion assay that assesses the chemotactic and invasive capacity of cells.
03:20
A Transwell Tissue Model for Studying Interactions Between Human Oral Biofilms and Epithelium
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2026
Source: Alshehri, M. et. al., Organotypic Tissue Model Systems for Investigating Host-Pathogen Interactions In Vitro. J. Vis. Exp. (2025)This video demonstrates a co-culture model using multi-species oral biofilms and human oral epithelium. It highlights epithelial immune activation and enables the downstream analysis of host-pathogen interaction.
03:05
Fluorescence Based Transwell Macrophage Attraction Assay: An In Vitro Method to Study Tumor-Macrophage Interaction Through Chemical-Induced Chemotaxis
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2023
In this video, we study tumor-macrophage interaction using fluorescence-based transwell macrophage interaction assay. The assay involves the analysis of the migration of macrophages through chemical-induced chemotaxis.
FAQs
Directional migration in this assay is created by placing a chemoattractant in the lower chamber, so cells that respond move toward that compartment. This arrangement lets investigators examine chemotaxis, the movement of cells in response to a chemical cue, while keeping the cellular source and experimental treatment under controlled conditions.
The porous membrane functions as a controlled physical interface: cells must cross its pores before they are scored as migrated. Because the same membrane-based setup can be applied across experimental conditions, differences in the number of cells reaching the lower side can be related to altered motility or directional responsiveness.
Comparing migrated cell numbers is most informative when the experimental conditions differ in only the cue or treatment being tested. A change in the count indicates that the tested molecular signal or drug response is associated with altered movement. The assay therefore links cell behavior with regulation by signaling molecules or treatments.
A typical workflow seeds cells in the upper chamber, places a chemoattractant or experimental treatment in the lower chamber, allows responsive cells to cross the membrane, and then stains and counts the migrated population. Keeping these steps consistent supports comparisons between conditions and makes the resulting cell counts the main assay readout.
Transwell Migration supports several biological questions rather than one disease model. Researchers can use it to examine cancer-cell invasion, immune-cell trafficking, chemotaxis, or responses to drugs and signaling molecules. Comparing migrated populations helps connect a cell type or treatment to changes in cellular motility.
In biology, the assay can evaluate whether cells move and how strongly they respond to a directional cue or experimental treatment. This distinction is useful when studying immune-cell trafficking or cancer-cell invasion, because migration counts provide a comparative measure of movement under selected conditions rather than a description of cell identity.