The mechanical and electrical properties of biomaterials are essential in cell function regulation during cell-biomaterial interaction. However, previous studies focused on probing cell regulation mechanisms under one type of stimulus, and a platform that enables the study of electromechanical coupling effects of a biomaterial on cells is still lacking. Here, we present an in-situ electromechanical testing and loading system to image live cells when co-cultured with electroactive biomaterials. The system can provide accurate and repeatable stretch on biomaterials and cells to mimic in vivo tension microenvironment. Besides, the integrated displacement transducer, force sensor, and electrical signal detector enable the real time detection of electromechanical signals on electroactive biomaterials under various stretch loading. Combined with a microscope, live cell imaging can be realized to probe cell behavior. The feasibility of the system is validated by culturing mesenchymal stem cells on piezoelectric nanofiber and conductive hydrogel. Experiment results show the device as a reliable and accurate tool to investigate electromechanical properties of biomaterials and probe essential features of live cells. Our system provides a way to correlate cell behavior with electromechanical cues directly and is useful for exploration of cell function during cell-biomaterial interaction.

中文翻译：

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用于动态细胞-生物材料相互作用研究的原位机电测试和加载系统。


生物材料的机械和电学特性对于细胞与生物材料相互作用过程中的细胞功能调节至关重要。然而，以往的研究主要集中在探讨一种刺激下的细胞调节机制，仍然缺乏能够研究生物材料对细胞的机电耦合效应的平台。在这里，我们提出了一种原位机电测试和加载系统，用于在与电活性生物材料共培养时对活细胞进行成像。该系统可以对生物材料和细胞提供精确且可重复的拉伸，以模拟体内张力微环境。此外，集成的位移传感器、力传感器和电信号检测器能够实时检测电活性生物材料在各种拉伸载荷下的机电信号。与显微镜结合，可以实现活细胞成像以探测细胞行为。通过在压电纳米纤维和导电水凝胶上培养间充质干细胞验证了该系统的可行性。实验结果表明，该设备是研究生物材料机电特性和探测活细胞基本特征的可靠而准确的工具。我们的系统提供了一种将细胞行为与机电线索直接关联的方法，对于探索细胞-生物材料相互作用期间的细胞功能很有用。