Boyden chamber

Boyden chamber

 

The Boyden chamber is a useful tool to study cell migration and cell invasion. It consists of a cylindrical cell culture insert nested inside the well of a cell culture plate. The insert contains a polycarbonate membrane at the bottom with a defined pore size.
Cells are seeded in the top of the insert in serum-free media, while serum or similar chemoattractants are placed in the well below. Migratory cells move through the pores toward the chemoattractant below and can be stained or quantified in a plate reader. Invasive cells may be similarly measured by the placement of a coating of extracellular matrix proteins on top of the membrane.
Boyden Chamber Assays may be used to measure cell invasion as well as various types of cell migration:
  • Chemotaxis describes cell migration based on chemicals in a cell's surrounding environment. Cell chemotaxis can indicate migration either toward or away from a particular chemical signal.
  • Haptotaxis is defined as cell migration along a gradient of extracellular matrix-bound chemoattractants. In these assays the Boyden chamber insert is coated on the underside with Collagen I or Fibronectin protein.
  • Transmigration describes the migration of cells (usually leukocytes or tumor cells) through the vascular endothelium toward a chemoattractant.
 

 

Assay type
Cell types
Pore size
Coating
Formats
Chemotaxis
Leukocytes
3 µm
None
24 wells
   
Neutrophils
   
   
96 wells
   
Lymphocytes
5 µm
None
24 wells
   
Macrophages
   
   
96 wells
   
Monocytes
   
   
   
   
Endothelial cells
8 µm
None
24 wells
   
Epithelial cells
   
   
96 wells
   
Fibroblasts
   
   
   
   
Tumor cells
   
   
   
   
Astrocytes
12 µm
None
24 wells
   
Slow-moving cells
   
   
   
Haptotaxis
Endothelial cells
8 µm
Collagen I (bottom)
24 wells
   
Epithelial cells
   
   
   
   
Fibroblasts
   
Fibronectin (bottom)
24 wells
Transmigration
Leucocytes
3 µm
None
24 wells
   
Tumor cells
8 µm
None
24 wells
Invasion                                                           
Endothelial cells
Epithelial cells
8 µm                                             
Extracellular matrix    (top)          
24 wells
96 wells
                                                                     
Fibroblasts
Tumor cells
                                                 
Collagen I (top)                    
24 wells
96 wells
                                                                          
                                                                     
                                                 
Laminin I (top)                      
24 wells
96 wells