Pneumatic unidirectional cell stretching device for mechanobiological studies of cardiomyocytes.

Pneumatic unidirectional cell stretching device for mechanobiological studies of cardiomyocytes. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2019 Aug 23;: Authors: Kreutzer J, Viehrig M, Pölönen RP, Zhao F, Ojala M, Aalto-Setälä K, Kallio P Abstract In this paper, we present a transparent mechanical stimulation device capable of uniaxial stimulation, which is compatible with standard bioanalytical methods used in cellular mechanobiology. We validate the functionality of the uniaxial stimulation system using human-induced pluripotent stem cells-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). The pneumatically controlled device is fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and provides uniaxial strain and superior optical performance compatible with standard inverted microscopy techniques used for bioanalytics (e.g., fluorescence microscopy and calcium imaging). Therefore, it allows for a continuous investigation of the cell state during stretching experiments. The paper introduces design and fabrication of the device, characterizes the mechanical performance of the device and demonstrates the compatibility with standard bioanalytical analysis tools. Imaging modalities, such as high-resolution live cell phase contrast imaging and video recordings, fluorescent imaging and calcium imaging are possible to perform in the device. Utilizing the different imaging modalities and proposed stretching device, we demonstrate the capability of the device for extensive fur...
Source: Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Tags: Biomech Model Mechanobiol Source Type: research