Photonavigation of cell migration on caged cell-culturing substrates

Cell migration is a fundamental biological activity, which is involved in both physiological and pathological processes, including embryonic development, inflammation, cancer cell migration, and metastasis. In the present study, we have developed a new method for studying the migration of single cells using a "Caged Cell-Culturing Substrate", which we had recently developed. Cells attached onto a single cell array were released from their geometrical confinements by illumination, which switched on migration of the cells onto the illuminated regions. The formation of cell-adhesive regions can be conducted under fluorescence microscopes. The present method will be useful for studying the regulatory mechanism of cell motility.