CEA, LIST, Sensory and Ambient Interfaces Laboratory, 18 Route du Panorama, BP6, Fontenay-aux-Roses, F-92265, France.
J Biomech. 2011 May 17;44(8):1433-46. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2011.02.085. Epub 2011 Apr 13.
Within a living body, cells are constantly exposed to various mechanical constraints. As a matter of fact, these mechanical factors play a vital role in the regulation of the cell state. It is widely recognized that cells can sense, react and adapt themselves to mechanical stimulation. However, investigations aimed at studying cell mechanics directly in vivo remain elusive. An alternative solution is to study cell mechanics via in vitro experiments. Nevertheless, this requires implementing means to mimic the stresses that cells naturally undergo in their physiological environment. In this paper, we survey various microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) dedicated to the mechanical stimulation of living cells. In particular, we focus on their actuation means as well as their inherent capabilities to stimulate a given amount of cells. Thereby, we report actuation means dependent upon the fact they can provide stimulation to a single cell, target a maximum of a hundred cells, or deal with thousands of cells. Intrinsic performances, strengths and limitations are summarized for each type of actuator. We also discuss recent achievements as well as future challenges of cell mechanostimulation.
在活体中，细胞会不断受到各种机械约束。事实上，这些机械因素在调节细胞状态方面起着至关重要的作用。人们普遍认为，细胞能够感知、反应并适应机械刺激。然而，旨在直接在体内研究细胞力学的研究仍然难以实现。另一种解决方案是通过体外实验研究细胞力学。然而，这需要实施手段来模拟细胞在生理环境中自然承受的压力。在本文中，我们调查了各种专门用于刺激活细胞的微机电系统（MEMS）。特别是，我们关注它们的致动方式以及它们在刺激给定数量细胞方面的固有能力。因此，我们根据它们可以对单个细胞进行刺激、最多可以对一百个细胞进行刺激或可以处理数千个细胞的情况，报告了依赖于致动方式的报告。对于每种类型的执行器，我们都总结了其依赖的致动方式、固有性能、优点和局限性。我们还讨论了细胞力学刺激的最新进展和未来挑战。
