title: Controlled electromechanical cell stimulation on-a-chip.
abstract: Stem cell research has yielded promising advances in regenerative medicine, but standard assays generally lack the ability to combine different cell stimulations with rapid sample processing and precise fluid control. In this work, we describe the design and fabrication of a micro-scale cell stimulator capable of simultaneously providing mechanical, electrical, and biochemical stimulation, and subsequently extracting detailed morphological and gene-expression analysis on the cellular response. This micro-device offers the opportunity to overcome previous limitations and recreate critical elements of the in vivo microenvironment in order to investigate cellular responses to three different stimulations. The platform was validated in experiments using human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. These experiments demonstrated the ability for inducing changes in cell morphology, cytoskeletal fiber orientation and changes in gene expression under physiological stimuli. This novel bioengineering approach can be readily applied to various studies, especially in the fields of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
authors.affiliation: Biosym IRG, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavesi
authors.affiliation: Biosym IRG, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adriani
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasponi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: Ioannis K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Zervantonakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianfranco B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.affiliation: 1] Biosym IRG, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore [2] Department of Biological Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
authors.forename: Roger D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Kamm
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D013314:Stress, Mechanical