A low-cost uniaxial cell stretcher for six parallel wells

Kah DTE, Winterl A, Přechová M, Schöler U, Schneider W, Friedrich O, Gregor M, Fabry B (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

HardwareX Elsevier

Book Volume: 9

Article Number: e00162

DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00162

Abstract

Cells in the lungs, the heart, and numerous other organs, are constantly exposed to dynamic forces and deformations. To mimic these dynamic mechanical loading conditions and to study the resulting cellular responses such as morphological changes or the activation of biochemical signaling pathways, cells are typically seeded on flexible 2D substrates that are uniaxially or biaxially stretched. Here, we present an open-source cell stretcher built from parts of an Anet A8 3D printer. The cell stretcher is controlled by a fully programmable open-source software using GCode and Python. Up to six flexible optically clear substrates can be stretched simultaneously, allowing for comparative multi-batch biological studies including microscopic image analysis. The cell yield from the cell culture area of 4 cm2 per substrate is sufficient for Western-blot protein analysis. As a proof-of-concept, we study the activation of the Yes-associated protein (YAP) mechanotransduction pathway in response to increased cytoskeletal tension induced by uniaxial stretching of epithelial cells. Our data support the previously observed activation of the YAP transcription pathway by stretch-induced increase in cytoskeletal tension and demonstrate the suitability of the cell stretcher to study complex mechano-biological processes.

Authors with CRIS profile

Delf-Thorge Eric Kah Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Alexander Winterl Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Ulrike Schöler Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Biotechnologie Werner Schneider Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Oliver Friedrich Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Biotechnologie Ben Fabry Lehrstuhl für Biophysik

Involved external institutions

Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR / Ústav molekulární genetiky AV ČR CZ Czech Republic (CZ)

How to cite

APA:

Kah, D.-T.E., Winterl, A., Přechová, M., Schöler, U., Schneider, W., Friedrich, O.,... Fabry, B. (2021). A low-cost uniaxial cell stretcher for six parallel wells. HardwareX, 9. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00162

MLA:

Kah, Delf-Thorge Eric, et al. "A low-cost uniaxial cell stretcher for six parallel wells." HardwareX 9 (2021).

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