Effects of Confined Microenvironments with Protein Coating, Nanotopography, and TGF-β Inhibitor on Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cell Migration through Channels

Distant metastasis is the primary cause of unsuccessful treatment in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), suggesting the crucial need to comprehend this process. Tumor related to NPC does not have flat surfaces but consists of confined microenvironments, proteins, and surface topography. To mimic the complex microenvironment, three-dimensional platforms with microwells and connecting channels were designed and developed with fibronectin (FN) coating or nanohole topography. The potential of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) inhibitor (galunisertib) for treating NPC was also investigated using the proposed platform. Our results demonstrated an increased traversing probability of NPC43 cells through channels with FN coating, which correlated with enhanced cell motility and dispersion. Conversely, the presence of nanohole topography patterned on the platform bottom and TGF-β inhibitor led to reduced cell traversing probability and decreased cell motility, likely due to the decrease in the F-Actin concentration in NPC43 cells. This study highlights the significant impact of confinement levels, surface protein, nanotopography, and TGF-β inhibitor on the metastatic probability of cancer cells, providing valuable insights for the development of novel treatment therapies for NPC. The developed platforms proved to be a useful tool for evaluating the metastatic potential of cells and is applicable for drug screening.
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