Abstract

Skeletal Muscle Tissue Chip for Studying Contractile Differences Between Young and Old-derived Cells in Gravity and Microgravity Environments

Siobhan Malany, Associate Professor, University of Florida, Founder of Micro-gRx

Aging and spaceflight share similar physiological effects on muscle atrophy and effective countermeasures are needed for both Earth and Space applications. We have validated a microfluidic microphysiological system (MPS) that demonstrates electrically stimulated contraction of human-engineered muscle myobundles derived from muscle biopsies from older, sedentary (OS) adults compared to those derived from young, athletic (YA) adults as a model of age-related muscle disfunction. After 16 days in culture, the engineered myobundles receive an intermittent daily pulse sequence for 8 days. The number and thickness of fused and striatal myofibers and contraction magnitude are increased in the OS group and begin to resemble the YA phenotype indicating the cells retain their donor phenotype and respond to external stimuli by triggering protein synthesis. Drug treatment with Tomatadine, a natural anabolic compound changes contractile function in both cohorts and will also be discussed. Our YA and OS-derived myobundles were integrated into an autonomous laboratory and sent to the ISS for 10 days on Space X CRS-21 during which time, on-orbit, real-time contraction was downlinked.