Skeletal Muscle-On-A-Chip In Microgravity As A Platform For Regeneration Modeling And Drug Screening

A method comprising:

• positioning an adapter within a clinostat, the adapter comprising a housing defining at least one receptacle;
• positioning each assembly of at least one assembly into a respective receptacle of the at least one receptacle, wherein positioning each assembly of at least one assembly into the respective receptacle of the at least one receptacle comprises positioning a first assembly in a first receptacle of the at least one receptacle of the adapter, wherein each assembly of the at least one assembly comprises:
• a substrate;
• and
• a plurality of fibrils deposited on the substrate, wherein the plurality of fibrils comprise collagen, wherein the plurality of fibrils extend along an axis;
• operating the clinostat to simulate microgravity;
• and
• flowing a first media into the first receptacle.

A method for screening a test substance affecting myogenesis, the method comprising:

• a) providing an engineered muscle tissue, wherein the engineered muscle tissue has been exposed to microgravity conditions;
• b) contacting the engineered muscle tissue with the test substance;
• c) determining the expression of at least one mitochondrion gene or at least one biological process gene in the engineered muscle tissue after step b);
• and
• d) comparing the expression of the at least one mitochondrion gene or the at least one biological process gene in the engineered muscle tissue in step b) to the expression of the at least one mitochondrion gene or the at least one biological process gene in the engineered muscle tissue prior to step b),
• wherein a decrease in expression of the at least one mitochondrion gene indicates that the test substance increases myogenesis or wherein an increase in the expression of the at least one biological process gene indicates that the test substance increases myogenesis.