Immune Function & Modulation Assays
Immune cell migration assays
Does your compound recruit effector immune cells toward the tumor — or block the migration of cancer cells and suppressive subsets?
Our transwell chemotaxis assays read migration by live-cell imaging, giving a full time course rather than a single endpoint.
Immune cell migration assay: format & readouts
- Format
- 96-well transwell (pore-based inserts), ECM-coated as needed
- Models
- Primary or immortalized immune cells — T cells, neutrophils, other subsets on request; non-adherent cancer cells
- Readout
- Chemotactic migration, upper-to-lower chamber, quantified by live-cell imaging across a 6–48 h time course
- Chemoattractants
- SDF1α (T cells); IL-8, CXCL1, fMLP (neutrophils); others on request
- Add-on readouts
- Flow cytometry immunophenotyping, cytokine release, transcriptomics, proteomics
Real-time chemotactic migration of immortalized T cells toward SDF1α in a 96-well plate. Transmembrane migration quantified on the IncuCyte® live-cell analysis system.
A migration readout is only as good as the cells you put in it. We isolate the specific effector subset — T cells, neutrophils — from primary PBMCs for each question, so the chemotaxis you measure reflects the biology you’re testing, not an artifact of a mixed population.
Imane Nafia, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Explicyte
Assay principle
How our immune cell migration assays work
1
Seed the cells
Immune cells — T cells, neutrophils — or non-adherent cancer cells are seeded onto a pore-based insert, ECM-coated as needed. The upper chamber sits in a lower chamber filled with media and a chemoattractant.
2
Set the gradient
Test compounds are added to the upper chamber and chemoattractants to the lower chamber. Depending on the question, the compound is scored for chemoattractive or chemorepulsive effect on the cells’ response to the gradient.
3
Track migration in real time
4
Layer on deeper readouts
On request, the same run adds flow cytometry immunophenotyping, cytokine release, gene expression, or proteomics to connect the migration phenotype to mechanism.
Illustrative CELL MIGRATION data
T-cell and neutrophil chemotaxis: example results
Dose-dependent T-cell chemotaxis, reversed by CXCR4 blockade
Primary human T-cell migration is dose-dependently induced by SDF1α over 24 h (A). The chemoattractive effect is reversed by the CXCR4 inhibitor AMD-3100 (B).
Neutrophil chemotaxis to IL-8 and CXCL1, blocked by CXCR2 antagonism
Freshly isolated human neutrophils migrate dose-dependently to IL-8 (A) and CXCL1 (C). A CXCR2 antagonist AZD10397767 partially abolishes the IL-8– (B) and CXCL1–induced (D) effects. Migration was tracked by live-cell imaging over 6 h and 15 h, respectively.
Making a difference as a preclinical CRO in oncology
Why work with Explicyte
The right cells for the question
We isolate the specific effector subset — T cells, neutrophils, others on request — from primary PBMCs, so the migration reflects the biology you’re testing.
Ten years of in-vitro immuno-oncology
100+ in-vitro campaigns over the past decade, backed by a technology platform to explore mechanism of action — not just a migration count.
Published, peer-reviewed science
30+ papers in key immuno-oncology journals. Our assays are benchmarked against reference chemoattractants and inhibitors, so you can trust your data.
One study director, end to end
A dedicated PhD-level study director takes your program from experimental plan to final-report discussion, with a fit-for-purpose proposal built around your objective.
Paul Marteau, PharmD (study director), Imane Nafia, PhD (CSO), Loïc Cerf, MSc (COO), Alban Bessède, PhD (founder, CEO), Jean-Philippe Guégan, PhD (CTO)
Contact our team
Discuss your migration study
Tell us about your compound and the migration question you need answered — recruiting effector cells, or blocking cancer-cell or suppressive-cell migration. We'll come back with a fit-for-purpose proposal and a PhD-level study director.
Answers about immune cell migration assays
Frequently asked questions
What does the immune cell migration assay measure?
It measures chemotactic migration — whether cells move toward (or away from) a chemical gradient. Cells are placed on a pore-based insert above a chamber containing a chemoattractant, and migration from the upper to the lower chamber is quantified over time.
Is this a transwell or a real-time assay?
Both. The format is a 96-well transwell (pore-based inserts), but migration is read by live-cell imaging across a 6–48 h window, so you get a full migration time course rather than a single endpoint reading.
Which cells can you run?
Primary or immortalized immune cells — T cells and neutrophils as standard, other subsets on request — as well as non-adherent cancer cells. Immune cells are isolated from primary PBMCs for the specific subset your question calls for.
Which chemoattractants do you use?
SDF1α for T cells; IL-8, CXCL1, and fMLP for neutrophils. Other chemoattractants can be run on request. Reference inhibitors are used alongside them to confirm the response is gradient-driven — for example, CXCR4 blockade against SDF1α.
Can you test compounds that block migration, not just promote it?
Yes. The assay reads both directions: chemoattractive compounds that promote effector-cell migration, and chemorepulsive or inhibitory compounds that block the migration of cancer cells or suppressive subsets.
What readouts can I add to a migration study?
On request, the same run can add flow cytometry immunophenotyping, cytokine release, gene expression, or proteomics — connecting the migration phenotype to mechanism.
How is this different from a standard chemotaxis assay?
Conventional chemotaxis assays capture a single time point. Because migration here is imaged in real time, you see the full kinetics — onset, rate, and plateau — which distinguishes a genuine change in directed migration from a shift in timing.
Who runs my study?
A dedicated PhD-level study director takes the project from experimental plan to final-report discussion, with a fit-for-purpose proposal built around your objective.