TY - JOUR

T1 - Large-scale spontaneous self-organization and maturation of skeletal muscle tissues on ultra-compliant gelatin hydrogel substrates

AU - Jensen, Joen H

AU - Cakal, Selgin D

AU - Li, Jingwen

AU - Pless, Christian J

AU - Radeke, Carmen

AU - Jepsen, Morten Leth

AU - Jensen, Thomas E

AU - Dufva, Martin

AU - Lind, Johan Ulrik

N1 - CURIS 2020 NEXS 257

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Cellular self-organization is the fundamental driving force behind the complex architectures of native tissue. Yet, attempts at replicating native tissue architectures in vitro often involve complex micro-fabrication methods and materials. While impressive progress has been made within engineered models of striated muscle, the wide adaptation of these models is held back by the need for specific tools and knowhow. In this report, we show that C2C12 myoblasts spontaneously organize into highly aligned myotube tissues on the mm to cm scale, when cultured on sufficiently soft yet fully isotropic gelatin hydrogel substrates. Interestingly, we only observed this phenomenon for hydrogels with Young's modulus of 6 kPa and below. For slightly more rigid compositions, only local micrometer-scale myotube organization was observed, similar to that seen in conventional polystyrene dishes. The hydrogel-supported myotubes could be cultured for multiple weeks and matured into highly contractile phenotypes with notable upregulation of myosin heavy chain, as compared to myotubes developed in conventional petri dishes. The procedure for casting the ultra-soft gelatin hydrogels is straight forward and compatible with standardized laboratory tools. It may thus serve as a simple, yet versatile, approach to generating skeletal muscle tissue of improved physiological relevance for applied and basic research.

AB - Cellular self-organization is the fundamental driving force behind the complex architectures of native tissue. Yet, attempts at replicating native tissue architectures in vitro often involve complex micro-fabrication methods and materials. While impressive progress has been made within engineered models of striated muscle, the wide adaptation of these models is held back by the need for specific tools and knowhow. In this report, we show that C2C12 myoblasts spontaneously organize into highly aligned myotube tissues on the mm to cm scale, when cultured on sufficiently soft yet fully isotropic gelatin hydrogel substrates. Interestingly, we only observed this phenomenon for hydrogels with Young's modulus of 6 kPa and below. For slightly more rigid compositions, only local micrometer-scale myotube organization was observed, similar to that seen in conventional polystyrene dishes. The hydrogel-supported myotubes could be cultured for multiple weeks and matured into highly contractile phenotypes with notable upregulation of myosin heavy chain, as compared to myotubes developed in conventional petri dishes. The procedure for casting the ultra-soft gelatin hydrogels is straight forward and compatible with standardized laboratory tools. It may thus serve as a simple, yet versatile, approach to generating skeletal muscle tissue of improved physiological relevance for applied and basic research.

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-020-69936-6

DO - 10.1038/s41598-020-69936-6

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 32764726

VL - 10

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

M1 - 13305

ER -