We developed migration assays under flow to quantify the motility of cells and their adhesion properties. Cells in microfluidic chambers are observed at 37°C with a Zeiss Z1 automated microscope equipped with a CoolSnap HQ CCD camera and piloted by µManager. An image processing program has been developed in house in order to automatically detect and track the migrating cells using MATLAB software. The program also allow to co-localize the position of the cell with a given pattern.

Trajectories of migrating T lymphocytes on a surface covered with Icam-1 molecules of density modulated in stripes. (a) Trajectories of moving cells. (b) Merge image of the trajectories and the Icam-1 pattern. (c) Co-localization of the trajectories with the pattern.