Mechanical behaviour of primary human skeletal muscle cells and isolated non-myogenic cells within a 3D- construct

INTRODUCTION: An understanding of the mechanical and mechano-molecular responses that occur during the differentiation of primary human myoblasts in 3D-culture is critical for understanding growth and progress towards producing a tissue-engineered muscle construct1. In an effort to characterise the mechanical behaviour of myoblasts within a 3D construct, previous work by Cheema et al. (2003) utilised a cell line of immortalised skeletal myoblasts (c2c12 cells). The aim of this study was to determine the mechanical response of primary human skeletal muscle (PHSM) cells. Further, to isolate myoblasts from PHSM cells and establish the force generated by those cells.