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Updated: Apr 3, 2026
Preclinical Drug Testing in Scalable 3D Engineered Muscle Tissues
Published on: April 7, 2023
Engineering multi-layered skeletal muscle tissue by using 3D microgrooved collagen scaffolds
Shangwu Chen1, Tomoko Nakamoto2, Naoki Kawazoe2
1Tissue Regeneration Materials Unit, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8571, Japan.
Researchers developed novel 3D porous collagen scaffolds with microgrooves to engineer aligned skeletal muscle tissue. These scaffolds mimic natural muscle structure, enabling organized, multi-layered tissue for potential therapeutic applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Engineering
- Tissue Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Engineering organized skeletal muscle tissue is challenging, with 2D surfaces offering limited thickness and difficult cell sheet harvesting.
- Existing methods struggle to achieve the necessary alignment and multi-layered structure for functional muscle tissue.
- 3D micropatterned scaffolds show promise for guiding cell alignment and promoting tissue formation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel 3D porous collagen scaffold with microgrooves for skeletal muscle tissue engineering.
- To mimic the native muscle basement membrane topography using concave microgrooves.
- To engineer highly aligned, multi-layered muscle tissue for potential therapeutic use.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of 3D porous collagen scaffolds featuring concave microgrooves.
- Optimization of microgroove dimensions and cell seeding concentrations.
- Culturing and analysis of myoblasts within the 3D scaffolds to assess alignment and tissue formation.
Main Results:
- Engineered multi-layered muscle tissues with high cell alignment were successfully created.
- Scaffold microgroove size and cell density influenced tissue organization.
- Myoblasts exhibited well-aligned structures, high myosin heavy chain expression, and synthesized muscle extracellular matrix.
Conclusions:
- Novel 3D microgrooved collagen scaffolds effectively engineer organized skeletal muscle tissue.
- The developed scaffolds can be used for implantation to repair muscle or for in vitro studies of cell-matrix interactions.
- This approach offers a promising strategy for creating functional muscle constructs.
