A multi-mode, multi-channel system for mechanical stretching and electrical stimulation of tissue and cells
The new IonOptix C-Pace System is a multi-mode, multi-channel system for mechanical stretching and/or electrical stimulation of tissue and cells. It can be used with our C-Stretch for simultaneous stretch and stimulation or with our C-Dish electrode assemblies and standard culture dishes for electrical stimulation alone.
Electrostimulation coupled with mechanical stretch offers a powerful tool to promote maturation of naive cell lines, while chronic electrical stimulation has been shown to prevent dedifferentiation of cardiomyocytes and maintain their rod shaped, striated morphology.
Pacing will maintain the rod shaped, striated morphology of the myocyte for several days. Whereas quiescent cells begin losing their contractile properties within 6 to 18 hours, most chronically paced experiments run 72 hours with little loss of contraction amplitude. Protein synthesis is also maintained and cells are kept in normal nitrogen balance for at least 72 hours. Effects have been observed in studies up to 7 days.
In a good adult rat myocyte preparation, the C-Pace/C-Dish system generally gets 70-80% capture (although there is some thought that only using enough voltage to stimulate 50-60% of the cells has the advantages of pre-selection and best maintenance of the healthiest cells). Use of the system, therefore, allows for experiments requiring several days and maximizes the number of cells which can be used from each animal.
KEY FEATURES
Patented technology to electrically stimulate cells in culture
C-Stretch provides simultaneous mechanical stretch and electrical stimulation
Stimulation protocols are customizable using intuitive software
Program arrhythmic stimulation, exercise protocols, and irregular pacing
COMPONENTS
The complete system includes our C-Pace EM chronic electrical stimulator housing up to 8 high voltage boards, our new, easy-to-use C-Pace Navigator software for simple programmability, and a combination of either C-Stretch and/or C-Dish units for stretch/stimulation or stimulation alone.
BROWSE THE TABS to learn more about the components that complete this system.