A novel method of cultivating cardiac myocytes in agarose microchamber chips for studying cell synchronization |
| |
Authors: | Kensuke?Kojima Tomoyuki?Kaneko Email author" target="_blank">Kenji?YasudaEmail author |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Life Sciences, Graduate school of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, 153-8902, JAPAN |
| |
Abstract: | We have developed a new method that enables agar microstructures to be used to cultivate cardiac myocyte cells in a manner
that allows their connection patterns to be controlled. Non-contact three-dimensional photo-thermal etching with a 1064-nm
infrared focused laser beam was used to form the shapes of agar microstructures. This wavelength was selected as it is not
absorbed by water or agar. Identical rat cardiac myocytes were cultured in adjacent microstructures connected by microchannels
and the interactions of asynchronous beating cardiac myocyte cells observed. Two isolated and independently beating cardiac
myocytes were shown to form contacts through the narrow microchannels and by 90 minutes had synchronized their oscillations.
This occurred by one of the two cells stopping their oscillation and following the pattern of the other cell. In contrast,
when two sets of synchronized beating cells came into contact, those two sets synchronized without any observable interruptions
to their rhythms. The results indicate that the synchronization process of cardiac myocytes may be dependent on the community
size and network pattern of these cells. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|