title: Cardiac Meets Skeletal: What's New in Microfluidic Models for Muscle Tissue Engineering.
abstract: In the last few years microfluidics and microfabrication technique principles have been extensively exploited for biomedical applications. In this framework, organs-on-a-chip represent promising tools to reproduce key features of functional tissue units within microscale culture chambers. These systems offer the possibility to investigate the effects of biochemical, mechanical, and electrical stimulations, which are usually applied to enhance the functionality of the engineered tissues. Since the functionality of muscle tissues relies on the 3D organization and on the perfect coupling between electrochemical stimulation and mechanical contraction, great efforts have been devoted to generate biomimetic skeletal and cardiac systems to allow high-throughput pathophysiological studies and drug screening. This review critically analyzes microfluidic platforms that were designed for skeletal and cardiac muscle tissue engineering. Our aim is to highlight which specific features of the engineered systems promoted a typical reorganization of the engineered construct and to discuss how promising design solutions exploited for skeletal muscle models could be applied to improve cardiac tissue models and vice versa.
authors: Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico Di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy. roberta.visone@polimi.it.
authors: Roberta
authors: R
authors: Visone
authors: Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milano 20161, Italy. mara.gilardi@grupposandonato.it.|Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, PhD School in Life Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano 20126, Italy. mara.gilardi@grupposandonato.it.
authors: Mara
authors: M
authors: Gilardi
authors: Departments of Surgery and Biomedicine, University Basel, University Hospital Basel, Basel 4065, Switzerland. anna.marsano@usb.ch.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Marsano
authors: Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico Di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy. marco.rasponi@polimi.it.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Rasponi
authors: Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milano 20161, Italy. simone.bersini@grupposandonato.it.
authors: Simone
authors: S
authors: Bersini
authors: Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milano 20161, Italy. matteo.moretti@grupposandonato.it.|Regenerative Medicine Technologies Lab, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano 6900, Switzerland. matteo.moretti@grupposandonato.it.|Swiss Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Lugano 6900, Switzerland. matteo.moretti@grupposandonato.it.|Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugano 6900, Switzerland. matteo.moretti@grupposandonato.it.
authors: Matteo
authors: M
authors: Moretti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D008954:Models, Biological; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
keywords: cardiac muscle; electrical stimulation; heart; in vitro 3D model; mechanical stimulation; microfluidic; organ-on-a-chip; skeletal muscle