Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 22: Migration and Multicellular Systems
BP 22.8: Talk
Thursday, September 8, 2022, 11:45–12:00, H15
'Forcing' changes in health and disease: New access into bioengineered skeletal muscle mechanics — •Arne Hofmeier1,2, Till Muenker2, Fabian Herkenrath1, and Timo Betz1,2 — 1University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany — 2University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
Mechanical properties of skeletal muscles are tightly related to proper functionality, which makes experimental access to the biomechanics of skeletal muscle tissue a key requirement to advance our understanding of muscle function, development and disease. Recently devised in vitro culture chambers allow for raising 3D skeletal muscle tissues under controlled conditions and to measure global tissue force generation. However, these PDMS-based systems are inherently incompatible with high resolution microscopy. Here, we present a new chamber design that allows real-time high resolution 3D microscopy and simultaneous non-invasive quantification of global contractile forces and local tension during muscle formation for the first time. With this in hand, we observed an early mechanical homeostasis within mouse myoblast derived skeletal muscle tissues after one week of development, despite progressing myotube maturation. Additionally, we raised human in vitro skeletal muscles derived from patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by loss of a functional membrane linker protein, called dystrophin. Interestingly, bioengineered Duchenne skeletal muscles displayed a disturbed mechanical homeostasis that correlates with functional impairment, suggesting a novel function of dystrophin being a molecular tension sensor and regulator.