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Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Ex Vivo Assessment of Contractility, Fatigability and Alternans in Isolated Skeletal Muscles
Published on: November 1, 2012
Fabricating Muscle-Neuron Constructs with Improved Contractile Force Generation
Md Arifuzzaman1, Akira Ito1, Kazushi Ikeda2
11 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University , Fukuoka, Japan .
Impact Statement:
In this study, we fabricated innervated skeletal muscle tissue constructs comprising C2C12 myoblasts and PC12 neural cells using a magnetic force-based tissue engineering technique. We found that the C2C12/PC12 co-culture enhanced neural differentiation of PC12 cells and sarcomere formation of C2C12 myotubes, accompanying with neuromuscular junction formation. The innervated skeletal muscle tissue constructs generated significantly higher contractile forces compared with aneural (C2C12 monoculture) skeletal muscle tissue constructs. These innervated skeletal muscle tissue constructs can be a useful tool for drug testing and biological research for neuromuscular diseases.
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