Fabrication of Ring-shaped Bioactuator Powered by Cardiomyocytes
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Fabrication of Ring-shaped Bioactuator Powered by Cardiomyocytes Hiroshi Horiguchi, Yoshitake Akiyama, and Keisuke Morishima Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Nakachou, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8588, Japan ABSTRACT We have proposed a novel use of pulsating living cells as a driving source for a micro bio-actuator. Cardiyomyocytes contract autonomously using chemical energy. But, contractile force of a single cardiomyocyte is not enough to actuate a micro robot or a mechanical system. So it is necessary to reconstruct cardiomyocytes to increase the ability to contract. We focused on the reconstruction of cardiomyocytes using a basement membrane protein mixture. In this paper, we fabricated a prototype cardiomyocyte gel structure. We confirmed that the ring-shaped cardiomyocyte gel structure condensed around the central cylinder within the PDMS mold and contracted synchronously and autonomously. INTRODUCTION In recent years, there have been many studies on downsizing and integration of not only semiconductor devices but also mechanical systems and chemical systems, such as micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and micro total analytical systems (μTAS). These fields, however, are requiring even more compact and miniaturized actuators. Therefore we have been focusing on living cells as a driving source for new micro actuators. Compared with conventional micro actuators, bio-actuators are driven by chemical energy. We have already designed and demonstrated operation of a bio-actuator powered by cardiomyocytes [1-3]. Cardiomyocytes can generate a few micronewtons of force per cell [4]. A single cardiomyocyte is not enough, however, to actuate a micro robot or a mechanical system and it is necessary to reconstruct cardiomyocytes to generate high contractile force of living cells. Several research studies on reconstruction of cardiomyocytes have been reported [5-9]. In the present work, we have focused on reconstruction of cardiomyocytes using a basement membrane protein mixture. By using this protein mixture, we can fabricate a three-dimensional structure powered by cardiomyocytes, so it is possible to easily fuse living cells and a nonliving component. In this paper, we fabricated a prototype ring-shaped cardiomyocyte gel using a basement membrane protein mixture. Motions of the ring-shaped cardiomyocyte gel structure are illustrated in Fig.1. The ring-shaped cardiomyocyte gel structure is deformed by the contraction and relaxation of cardiomyocytes in the three-dimensional gel structures. In the future, we plan to use the ring-shaped cardiomyocyte gel as a driving source of tube-type micropump.
Fig.1 Motions of the ring-shaped cardiomyocyte gel structure
EXPERIMENT Fabrication of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) mold The PDMS mold was fabricated for use in cardiac muscle cell culturing. Fabrication processes are illustrated in Fig.2. First, negative photoresist (SU-8 3050, Microchem Corporation) was spun onto a silicon wafer. Second, the silicon
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