Research in cell biology often is based in tissue culturing cells on artificial substrates, such as plastic or glass. These artificial conditions are prone to distorting findings by persuading cells to adjust to artificial flat rigid surfaces. In contrast, the natural substrate for most cells in living organisms is the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is three-dimensional, complex, and dynamic in its molecular composition, and variable in pliability. Here we show how to measure the rates and directionality of fibroblasts motility within physiologically relevant in vivo-like cell-derived three-dimensional matrices.
