Abstract
Biohybrid artificial muscle produced by integrating living muscle cells and their scaffolds with free movement in vivo is promising for advanced biomedical applications, including cell-based microrobotic systems and therapeutic drug delivery systems. Herein, we provide a biohybrid artificial muscle constructed by integrating living muscle cells and their scaffolds, inspired by bundled myofilaments in skeletal muscle. First, a bundled biohybrid artificial muscle was fabricated by the integration of skeletal muscle cells and hydrophilic polyurethane (HPU)/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanofibers into a fiber shape similar to that of natural skeletal muscle. The HPU/CNT nanofibers provided a stretchable basic backbone of the 3-dimensional fiber structure, which is similar to actin-myosin scaffolds. The incorporated skeletal muscle fibers contribute to the actuation of biohybrid artificial muscle. In fact, electrical field stimulation reversibly leads to the contraction of biohybrid artificial muscle. Therefore, the current development of cell-actuated artificial muscle provides great potential for energy delivery systems as actuators for implantable medibot movement and drug delivery systems. Moreover, the innervation of the biohybrid artificial muscle with motor neurons is of great interest for human-machine interfaces.
Highlights
In most mammals, muscle fibers are the individual contractile units that are organized into individual bundles of elongated multinuclear myocytes[1,2]
The electrospun hydrophilic polyurethane (HPU) nanofibers were attached to the cover slide and overlapped with the carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets drawn from a nanotube forest to improve the mechanical strength, as shown in the SEM image of Figure S1B
In conclusion, this study shows a biohybrid artificial muscle fabricated from skeletal muscle cells and PU/CNT scaffolds, inspired by skeletal muscle tissue
Summary
Muscle fibers are the individual contractile units that are organized into individual bundles of elongated multinuclear myocytes[1,2]. The bundled myofilaments are bound together by connective tissue, which is a unique structure that regulates the force and mechanical strength of muscle tissue[1,2]. A fiber-shaped structure is useful in creating higher-order assemblies by bundling, weaving, and folding[6]. Anatomical and structural studies on skeletal muscle tissue support the importance of fibrous bundles in muscular functions, such as the force regulation and mechanical strength of muscle tissue[7]. Fibershaped structures have been created for muscle tissue regeneration using cellular constructs and for artificial muscle using various functional materials[4,8,9,10]
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