An open-source, battery-powered, low-cost, and dual-channel pneumatic pulse generator for microfluidic cell-stretch assays.

ABSTRACT: Cells in the body are regularly subjected to mechanical forces that influence their biological fate in terms of morphology, gene expression, and differentiation. The current gold standard method to replicate these effects in vitro is to culture cells on devices with elastic substrates and to impart mechanical stretch using mechanical or pneumatic pull-push methods. Microfluidic device designs offer several advantages in this context for general uniform and controlled stretching. However, the experimental setups are bulky, not user-friendly, and often involve several components that reside outside of the tissue culture incubator. Given the wide utility of mechanical stimulation in in-vitro research, our aim was to create a turn-key research tool that bioengineers can deploy in their cell-st

SUBMITTER: Olson S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11525163 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature