A low-cost, open-source cyclic cell stretching device built from LEGO® parts.
We designed and built a device for cyclic uniaxial mechanical stretching of cells in tissue culture, constructed entirely from LEGO® parts (Boulter et al., 2020). The system provides a low-cost, accessible way to apply controlled, repeatable mechanical stimulation to cells while they are imaged or otherwise assayed, without requiring specialized commercial equipment.
To make the device reproducible in other labs, we published a detailed step-by-step protocol covering its construction and use, including the accompanying stretchable culture vessel (Boulter & Féral, 2021).
This work is part of a broader interest in LEGO®-based instruments as a route to open, frugal science: building scientific devices from an accessible, standardized, widely available parts ecosystem to lower the barrier to entry for labs with limited budgets (Boulter et al., 2022). The same approach has since been extended to other instruments developed in the lab, such as Magzy, a LEGO®-based magnetic tweezers system.
References
2022
Trends Biotechnol
The LEGO® brick road to open science and biotechnology
Etienne Boulter, Julien Colombelli, Ricardo Henriques, and 1 more author
LEGO® is a brand of toys that have entertained generations of children. Beyond amusement, LEGO® bricks also constitute a building ecosystem of their own that creators from the general public, as well as scientists and engineers, can use to design and assemble devices for all purposes, including scientific research and biotechnology. We describe several of these constructions to highlight the construction properties of LEGO® and their advantages, caveats, and impact in biotechnology. We also discuss how this emerging trend in LEGO® building pairs with a growing interest in open-access and frugal science which aims to provide access to technology to all scientists regardless of financial wealth and technological prowess.
@article{boulter2022lego,title={The LEGO® brick road to open science and biotechnology},author={Boulter, Etienne and Colombelli, Julien and Henriques, Ricardo and Féral, Chloé C},journal={Trends in Biotechnology},volume={40},number={9},pages={1073–1087},year={2022},month=sep,doi={10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.02.003},publisher={Elsevier BV},}
2021
STAR Protoc
Cyclic uniaxial cell stretching in tissue culture using a LEGO®-based mechanical stretcher and a polydimethylsiloxane stretchable vessel
Mechanical signals are essential for the regulation of many biological processes. Therefore, it has become paramount to account for these mechanical parameters when exploring biological processes. Here, we describe a protocol to apply cyclic uniaxial stretch on cells in culture using a LEGO®-based mechanical stretcher and a flexible custom-made polydimethylsiloxane culture vessel as well as validated downstream applications. While this system offers an out-of-the-box limited type of simulation, it provides a reliable and low-cost opportunity to perform cell stretching. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Boulter et al. (2020).
@article{boulter2021cyclic,title={Cyclic uniaxial cell stretching in tissue culture using a LEGO®-based mechanical stretcher and a polydimethylsiloxane stretchable vessel},author={Boulter, Etienne and Féral, Chloé C},journal={STAR Protocols},volume={2},number={2},pages={100437},year={2021},month=jun,doi={10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100437},publisher={Elsevier BV},}
Mechanical cues are essential for the regulation of cell and tissue physiology. Hence, it has become an utmost necessity for cell biologists to account for those mechanical parameters when investigating biological processes and they need devices to manipulate cells accordingly. Here, we report a simple mechanical cell-stretching system that can generate uniaxial cyclic mechanical stretch on cells in tissue culture. This system is based upon a low-cost battery-powered uniaxial cyclic mechanical stretcher exclusively built out of LEGO® parts combined with a stretchable poly(dimethylsiloxane) tissue culture plate in order to grow and stretch cells. We characterize the system and show that it can be used in a wide variety of downstream applications, including immunofluorescence, western blotting and biochemical assays. We also illustrate how this system can be useful in a study as we investigated the behavior of integrin adhesion complexes upon cell stretching. We therefore present a cost-effective, multipurpose cell-stretching system that should help to increase understanding of mechanical signaling.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
@article{boulter2020cyclic,title={Cyclic uniaxial mechanical stretching of cells using a LEGO® parts-based mechanical stretcher system},author={Boulter, Etienne and Tissot, Floriane S and Dilly, Julien and Pisano, Sabrina and Féral, Chloé C},journal={Journal of Cell Science},volume={133},number={1},pages={jcs234666},year={2020},month=jan,doi={10.1242/jcs.234666},publisher={The Company of Biologists},}