Cardiac toxicity screening using polymeric cantilever integrated with cell stimulators

This paper describes a smart cantilever device to precisely monitor the drug-induced contraction forces of cardiac muscle cells. The cantilever device is composed of two parallel microelectrodes and 3D micro-patterns on the surface. The microelectrodes are utilized to synchronize beating of individual cell during drug screening experiments. These also enhance the expression of connexin 43 (Cx-43) of gap junctions that electrically couple cardiac cells. The optimized 3D microstructures greatly improve the contraction force. These physical stimulations (electrical and mechanical) are very effective to mature cardiac cells obtained from neonatal rats. The fabricated cantilever devices are also employed for pre-screening of drugs in cardiac toxicity.