Peptides bound to silicone membranes and 3D microfabrication for cardiac cell culture

Mechanical load and stress are exerted upon heart muscle tissue in vivo, leading to changes in cellular biochemistry and physiology. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms of mechanical transduction at the cellular level requires the development of physiologically relevant models of cells in vitro. Silicone elastomers are widely used as flexible cell culture substrates for in-vitro cardiac mechano-biological studies. We describe here the use of peptide binding to and microfabrication of silicone elastomer membranes. We utilize these chemically and morphologically modified silicone membranes as improved flexible cell culture substrates in studies of cardiac mechano-biology. We also discuss advances in surface modification and microfabrication that promise further development of improved heart cell cultures.