Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 13, 2020 - September 16, 2020
In recent years, it has been revealed that physical exercise produces a variety of physiologically active substances called myokine, help to maintain healthy body functions A method of genetic analysis has been used to investigate myokines, however. Its clear assessment is difficult because of affection by other hormones. Therefore, in this research, we establish a simple experimental system for myokine research in vitro. In this experimental system, the artificial skeletal muscle is cultured with various extension patterns. Changes in skeletal muscle structure and culture medium allow us to investigate the effects of muscle movement patterns on myokine production. We have successfully fabricated a three-dimensional cultured skeletal muscle (artificial skeletal muscle) that can reproduce the contractile motion of a muscle by electrical stimulation (Figure 1). This artificial skeletal muscle can be removed from the culture dish with tweezers via the artificial tendons at both ends and relocated. One of the problems with this device is that the medium is electrolyzed and its pH is changed by the electric current during stimulation. In this study, a newly developed device was applied to provide mechanical stretching to the skeletal muscles. The device consists of an inexpensive (under $100) linear stage, which is used in 3D printers, and is controlled by an Arduino. Therefore, the conditions for mechanical shrinkage can be freely controlled.
