Movement of Fibroblasts in a Spatially Confined System

CELL movement in vitro is influenced by several mechanisms including chemotaxis, contact guidance, contact inhibition and associative movement 1,2 . In an effort to assess these mechanisms, the movement of chick fibroblasts isolated within capillary tubes was investigated using the techniques of Twitty and Niu 3 . Cells isolated within capillary tubes had a unique experimental environment, for movement was confined primarily to one spatial dimension, convection currents were avoided, and diffusion of cellular products was minimized.