J Appl Biomed 23:174-183, 2025 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2025.019

Propofol suppresses breast cancer invasion: An in vitro three-dimensional cell invasion model with microfluidic technology

Zhitong Wan¹, Haoyue Lyu¹, Yuting Luo¹, Tong Liu¹, Xiaoyu Peng¹, Yijing Zhang¹, Yuan Li^{1, 2, 3, *}

¹ Central Laboratory, the Affiliated Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 402160, China

² Chongqing Municipality Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases (The affiliated Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University), Chongqing 402160, China

³ Western Institute of Digital-Intelligent Medicine, Chongqing 401329, China

The fundamental aspect of breast cancer metastasis is the infiltration of malignant cells, which can be blocked by propofol, a widely utilized anesthetic in clinical settings, as recent studies reporting. However, research utilizing three-dimensional invasion models in vitro has not been documented. This study created a microfluidic chip model utilizing type I collagen (Col1), integrating delayed dynamic imaging and several fluorescence labeling approaches to objectively assess the inhibitory effect of propofol on breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 invasion. Research indicates that MDA-MB-231 cells demonstrate collective invasion behavior, with their invasive capacity reliant on the degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) facilitated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs): both the invasion distance and cell count diminish as matrix hardness (collagen concentration 1-2.5 mg/ml) increases, while they augment with extended culture duration (1-5 days). Subsequent research has demonstrated that propofol (12.5-50 μg/ml) can reduce both the invasion distance and quantity of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner, potentially linked to the down-regulation of MMP-2/MMP-9 and the up-regulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) expression. This paper presents novel experimental evidence that propofol inhibits the invasion of breast cancer cells, and establishes a straightforward and quantitative medication evaluation platform, offering a methodological reference for the screening and mechanistic investigation of tumor microenvironment regulators.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Invasion; Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs); Microfluidic; Propofol; Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1)

Grants and funding:

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11702047), Joint project of Chongqing Health Commission and Science and Technology Bureau (2023GDRC008), and Scientific Research Project of Yongchuan Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University (YJJL2024034).

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: April 9, 2025; Revised: October 3, 2025; Accepted: December 8, 2025; Prepublished online: December 11, 2025; Published: December 17, 2025  Show citation