文摘
We present a microfabricated hybrid biopolymer microcantilever, in which the contractile force of self-organizedcardiomyocytes can be measured and studied, as aprototype for the development of cell-driven actuators. Themicrocantilever is made of a flexible, transparent, biocompatible poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrate, using a simplemicrofabrication technique. Seeding and culturing cardiomyocytes on the specific cantilever allows us to performhighly sensitive, quantitative, and noninvasive measurement of the contractile force of the self-organized cells inreal time. The motions of the microcantilever showed goodagreement with an analytical solution based on Stoney'sequation and finite element modeling (FEM) of the hybridsystem. Immunostaining of the cells on the hybrid systemshowed continuous high-order coalignment of actin filaments and parallel sarcomeric organization in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the microcantilever withoutstructural constraints, such as microgrooves or lines, andproved our FEM and the synchronous contraction ofcardiomyocytes. The presented device should facilitatemeasurement of the contractile force of self-organizedcardiomyocytes on a specific area, which may help theunderstanding of heart failure and the design of optimalhybrid biopolymer actuators, as well as assist development of a microscale cell-driven motor system.