Bioengineering functional smooth muscle with spontaneous rhythmic contraction in vitro

Masae Kobayashi; Hassan A Khalil; Nan Ye Lei; Qianqian Wang; Ke Wang; Benjamin M Wu; James C Y Dunn

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31992-4

Bioengineering functional smooth muscle with spontaneous rhythmic contraction in vitro

Sci Rep. 2018 Sep 10;8(1):13544. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31992-4.

Authors

Masae Kobayashi¹, Hassan A Khalil², Nan Ye Lei^{1

2}, Qianqian Wang¹, Ke Wang³, Benjamin M Wu^{1

4}, James C Y Dunn^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
² Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
³ Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina, NC, 27514, USA.
⁴ Division of Advanced Prosthodontics & Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁵ Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. jdunn2@stanford.edu.
⁶ Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. jdunn2@stanford.edu.
⁷ Department of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. jdunn2@stanford.edu.

Abstract

Oriented smooth muscle layers in the intestine contract rhythmically due to the action of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) that serve as pacemakers of the intestine. Disruption of ICC networks has been reported in various intestinal motility disorders, which limit the quality and expectancy of life. A significant challenge in intestinal smooth muscle engineering is the rapid loss of function in cultured ICC and smooth muscle cells (SMC). Here we demonstrate a novel approach to maintain the function of both ICC and SMC in vitro. Primary intestinal SMC mixtures cultured on feeder cells seeded electrospun poly(3-caprolactone) scaffolds exhibited rhythmic contractions with directionality for over 10 weeks in vitro. The simplicity of this system should allow for wide usage in research on intestinal motility disorders and tissue engineering, and may prove to be a versatile platform for generating other types of functional SMC in vitro.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Newborn
Cell Line
Colonoscopy
Female
Fibroblasts
Gastrointestinal Motility / physiology
Humans
Intestinal Diseases / physiopathology
Intestinal Diseases / therapy
Intestines / cytology*
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Muscle Contraction / physiology*
Muscle, Smooth / cytology
Muscle, Smooth / physiology*
Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / physiology*
Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / transplantation
Polyesters / chemistry
Primary Cell Culture
Tissue Engineering / methods*
Tissue Scaffolds / chemistry

Substances

Polyesters
polycaprolactone

Grants and funding

R01 DK083119 /DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States