A Method for Determining the Strain-Time Endurance of Cells in Planar Tissue-Engineered Constructs Subjected to Large Compressive Deformations

The mechanical environment of cells influences their normal growth and function, and may also affect the development of diseases and chronic injuries. Accordingly, there is substantial interest in determining the endurance of cells subjected to controlled mechanical strains for given time periods. A standardized, generic experimental method for determining strain-time thresholds for cell death is so far missing in the literature. In this study, a new experimental method was developed to measure strain-time thresholds of cells in planar tissue-engineered constructs subjected to large compressive strains. The method was applied to measure a strain-time threshold for differentiated C2C12 murine skeletal muscle cells in tissue-engineered bio-artificial muscle (BAM) constructs.