title: A soft, stretchable and conductive biointerface for cell mechanobiology.
abstract: In mechanobiology the study of cell response to mechanical stimuli is fundamental, and the involved processes (i.e., mechanotransduction) need to be investigated by interfacing (mechanically and electrically) with the cells in dynamic and non-invasive natural-like conditions. In this work, we present a novel soft, stretchable and conductive biointerface that allows both cell mechanical stimulation and dynamic impedance recording. The biointerface stretchability and conductivity, jointly to the biocompatibility and transparency needed to perform cell culture studies, were obtained by exploiting the formation of wrinkles on the surface of a 90 nm thick conductive layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) on a pre-stretched 130 μm thick poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrate. Cell adhesion and proliferation of SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were evaluated, and cell differentiation on the corrugated surface was assessed. We demonstrate how the biointerface remains conductive when applying uniaxial strain up to 10%, and when cell culturing is performed. Finally, a reduction of about 30% of the relative impedance variation signal was measured, with respect to the control, as a result of the mechanical stimulation of cells.
authors: Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025, Pontedera, PI, Italy.
authors: Irene
authors: I
authors: Bernardeschi
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Greco
authors: Gianni
authors: G
authors: Ciofani
authors: Attilio
authors: A
authors: Marino
authors: Virgilio
authors: V
authors: Mattoli
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Mazzolai
authors: Lucia
authors: L
authors: Beccai
mesh_terms: D001703:Biophysics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003585:Cell Biology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D004867:Equipment Design; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D011137:Polystyrenes; D013499:Surface Properties; D013876:Thiophenes
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D011137:Polystyrenes; D013876:Thiophenes; C533756:poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate); C013830:baysilon