Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2025
09:30
Assessing Functional Metrics of Skeletal Muscle Health in Human Skeletal Muscle Microtissues
Published on: February 18, 2021
4.0K
A Micromanipulation-Actuated Large-Scale Screening to Identify Optimized Microphysiological Model Parameters in
Xie Chen1, Tao Sun1, Shingo Shimoda2
1Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China.
Advanced Science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
|September 12, 2024
Summary
A new micromanipulation method assesses hydrogel cell cultures for skeletal muscle regeneration. This technique evaluates viscoelasticity and contractile force, improving screening for effective muscle tissue repair strategies.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Cellular Mechanics
Background:
- Hydrogel-based 3D cell cultures are vital for biomimetic microstructures.
- Current methods lack effective evaluation of cell-hydrogel interactions and micro-structure functionality.
- This limits their use as microphysiological models (microPMs) for skeletal muscle regeneration screening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a two-probe micromanipulation method for assessing skeletal muscle microPMs.
- To enable large-scale evaluation of viscoelasticity and contractile force (CF).
- To establish screening criteria for multifactorial interactions in muscle regeneration.
Main Methods:
- High-throughput production of skeletal muscle microPMs using microfluidic spinning and 96-well culture.
- Two-probe micromanipulation for measuring viscoelasticity (E* and tanδ) and CF in a solution environment.
- Integration of E*, tanδ, and CF data to develop screening criteria.
Main Results:
- Viscoelasticity parameters indicate cellular structure formation without hydrogel residue.
- Contractile force measurements correlate with myotube generation.
- Developed screening criteria improved hypoxic threshold evaluation and aligned cell growth in 3D bipennate muscle structures.
Conclusions:
- The two-probe micromanipulation method effectively assesses skeletal muscle microPMs.
- This approach provides valuable insights into cell-hydrogel interactions and tissue functionality.
- The method facilitates efficient exploration of factors influencing muscle tissue regeneration with limited resources.
