Movement of Cultured Myotube with Electrical Stimulation

Repetitive contraction of cultured muscle tubes has been controlled in vitro with periodical electrical stimulation. C2C12 (Mouse myoblast cell line) was cultured with High-glucose Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium on a dish to make muscle tubes. Differentiation was induced with horse serum. Repetitive contraction of the tube was generated by electric pulses through electrodes of platinum, and observed with a phase-contrast microscope. The cells were proliferated and differentiated to micro-tubes in six days. The periodical contraction of the tube was observed with the periodical electric pulse between 0.5 Hz and 3 Hz. A Tetanic contraction was occurred with a frequency higher than 5 Hz. Contraction was controlled with lower amplitude and with shorter pulse width of the electric pulse, when the direction of the electric field is parallel to the longitudinal axes of the tube.