{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T18:59:28Z","timestamp":1783537168227,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100023610","name":"Cancer Center at Illinois","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["9570"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["9570"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100023610","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014989","name":"Chan Zuckerberg Initiative","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["n\/a"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["n\/a"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014989","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Chemotaxis plays a critical role in the metastatic progression of breast cancer. The chemokine CXCL12 is well recognized as an essential component of chemotactic migration in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells\n                    <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                    . The purpose of this study is to determine how the highly metastatic TNBC cell line, MDA-MB-231, migrates in response to well-defined CXCL12 gradients\n                    <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Traditional 2D transwell migration assays were optimized to gauge the MDA-MB-231 cells\u2019 responsiveness to various CXCL12 concentrations. The optimum chemoattractant concentrations were applied to a commercially available 3D chemotaxis assay as stable linearly diffused gradients. Cells were embedded in type 1 bovine collagen at two different collagen concentrations, and individual unlabeled cells were monitored for 24 hours using brightfield microscopy. Time-lapse videos were used to track cell movement and shape. Quantitative data analysis was performed using an automated tracking software to measure chemotactic parameters based on cell morphology. MDA-MB-231 cells were responsive to CXCL12 concentrations greater than 200 ng\/mL in 2D and 3D systems. In 3D systems, significant directed migration was observed in denser collagen matrices. It was observed that in 3D matrices a range of cell morphologies was present. Therefore, chemotaxis was evaluated as a function of cell shape revealing some differences between sub cellular populations. Our findings show the cell\u2019s shape influences the chemotactic sensing towards CXCL12 gradients.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0343188","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T17:40:20Z","timestamp":1783532420000},"page":"e0343188","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["MDA-MB-231 cell morphology influences chemotactic sensing of CXCL12 gradients in type 1 bovine collagen matrix"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8558-5903","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Marsophia","family":"Marcellus","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7066-5575","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Catherine 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