Microchip for the regulation of skeletal muscle differentiation

This paper reports the use of a microchip containing microfabricated electrode arrays for investigation of in vitro differentiation process of skeletal myoblasts. The microelectrodes array was designed and fabricated to generate controllable electric fields to skeletal myoblasts during their proliferation and differentiation processes. The results showed that the electric signals with low amplitude and high frequency have a phenomenal effect in directing skeletal myoblasts into multinucleated, and myosin heavy chain (MHC) positive myotubes. The morphology of the myotubes heavily depends on the electric signals. This work holds the promise to facilitate the use of electric field for skeletal muscle repair. It is also expected to provide a powerful tool for the investigation of mechanisms that governs the intercellular and intracellular events responsible for biological-electric coupling at cellular levels.