Electrical stimulation of cultured lepidopteran dorsal vessel tissue: an experiment for development of bioactuators

An insect dorsal vessel (DV) is well suited for a bioactuator since it is capable of contracting autonomously, and its tissue and cells are more environmentally robust under culturing conditions compared with mammalian tissue. In this study, electrical pulse stimulation was examined so as to regulate a bioactuator using the DV tissue. The DV tissue of a larva of Ctenoplusia agnate was assembled on a micropillar array, which was stimulated after culturing for about 3 wk. The contraction of the DV tissue was evaluated by image analysis to measure lateral displacements at the micropillar top. As a result, suitable stimulation conditions in a 35-mm petri dish were determined as: applied voltage of 10 V with 20-ms duration. Next, the time lag between the onset of electrical stimulus and the onset of mechanical contraction (electromechanical delay (EMD)) was estimated. A light-emitting diode (LED) was connected serially with the petri dish, and the LED flashed when electrical pulses were given. Movie images were analyzed in which electrical pulses made the DV tissue contract and the LED flashed virtually simultaneously; from these, the EMD was estimated as approximately 50 ms. These results suggest that the electrical pulse stimulation is capable of regulating the DV tissue, and the micropillar array is a useful biological tool to investigate physiological properties of muscle tissue.