A Method to Study Migration and Invasion of Mouse Intestinal Organoids

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide and it is the second leading cause of cancer death. In CRC, as in most cancers, the formation of metastasis through the migration and invasion of cancer cells to distant organs is associated with a dismal prognosis. The study of the mechanisms associated with cancer, and, in particular, CRC, changed in the last decade due to the introduction of organoids. These represent a step forward in terms of complexity from cell lines and allowed the use of mouse models in cancer research to be limited. Although organoids faithfully model the cellular complexity of CRC, current protocols do not allow for the use of organoids in some crucial processes of metastasis, such as migration and invasion. In this study, a method to study migration and invasion using mouse intestinal organoids in vitro is presented. This protocol provides researchers with the opportunity to investigate the migratory behavior of organoid lines and study the impact of distinct mutations on the migratory and invasive capacity of cancer cells.