Behavior of Myoblasts in Confluent Layer Under Shear Flow Field

Abstract

Abstract To investigate the effect of shear stress direction on cell orientation, the movement of each cell parallel or perpendicular to the direction of the shear flow field in the two-dimensional confluent layer was investigated in vitro. A Couette-type shear flow between parallel walls was formed between the lower static culture disc and the upper rotating disc. Shear stress (1 Pa) was set by adjusting the rotation speed of the upper disk. After culturing to confluence in a flowless state to adhere myoblasts (C2C12: mouse myoblast line) to the lower disk, shear flow was continuously applied for 7 days in an incubator (incorporated with an inverted phase contrast microscope). The migration of each cell was tracked in the time-lapse images. Experiments have shown that cells migrate along the long axis (not only parallel, but also vertical to the shear stress). This method can be applied to maintain the orientation of muscle cells in the engineered tissue.