A Novel Stage-Top-Bioreactor Integrated with Nano-Textured Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Diaphragm

Herein, we propose a novel stage-top-bioreactor device for cell culture, structural & mechanical stimulation, and real-time monitoring of growth cells. A functional well plate integrated stage-top-bioreactor in the effectively stimulates the growth of cultured cells through the deformation of a PDMS diaphragm. Also, the unique PDMS diaphragm aligns the cultured cells in one direction through the surface-nanotextures and mechanical stimulation. The sarcomeres length and connexin 43 of the cultured cells are significantly improved owing to the simultaneous mechanical and structural stimulation of the proposed stage-top-bioreactor. The obtained experimental results demonstrate that the proposed device can be effectively used in the various fields of cell biology and regenerative medicine.