Muscle-actuated bio-hybrid mems by cell culture and differentiation on me tamaterial micro-scaffolds

This paper reports on a 3D bio-hybrid metamaterial MEMS scaffold for the culture and differentiation of C2C12 muscle precursor cells. For the first time, preferential cells differentiation on a technical surface into functional myotubes is demonstrated. The micro-scaffolds are based on concatenated bowtie elements fabricated by two-photon lithography and designed to achieve an equivalent Young's modulus of 12kPa. The high flexibility promotes the differentiation of the muscle cells into contractile myotubes [1]. Compared to state-of-the-art gel-based cell culture substrates, mechanical metamaterials can be shaped into arbitrary complex 3D geometries opening pathways towards muscle-driven biohybrid MEMS.