# Alveole Symposium 2022 – 2/4 – Dr. Léa Trichet

This is the 2/4 videos from the 2nd edition of our Virtual Symposium, featuring the last publications and results from our users in cell biology and mechanobiology.

Bioengineering a Miniaturized In Vitro 3D Myotube Contraction Monitoring Chip

Using the PRIMO system from Alvéole, our team has recently developed a microfabricated platform to produce 3D muscle organoids suspended between two flexible pillars. Optimized micropatterned substrate design enabled to obtain high culture yields in tightly controlled microenvironments. The technology allows monitoring of the forces developed during spontaneous contractions of the obtained microtissues, based on in situ observation of pillars deflection. The developed system also enables to recapitulate pathological phenotypes, as was reported for LMNA-related Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (L-CMD) modeling, with successful development of mutant 3D myotubes displaying contractile dysfunction. Importantly, the system requires significantly less patient material than other 3D-microtissues approaches, which has the potential to substantially improve drug screening capability.

Presented by: Léa Trichet who has a background in biophysics and medicine and carried out her doctoral work on the topic of cell movement biomimetism at Institut Curie, under the supervision of Cécile Sykes and Julie Plastino. She pursued her academic career in the group of Benoît Ladoux, working on cell-matrix interactions, and further worked for General Electric Healthcare as a Global Clinical Leader in Interventional Radiology, to translate clinical needs into products. She was appointed CNRS researcher in 2014 in the MatBio team at the LCMCP, Sorbonne Université. She works on the physical chemistry of biopolymers to develop biomimetic musculo-skeletal models and new biomaterials for tissue regeneration. Her research also focuses on the development of “tissue on chip” devices offering controlled microenvironment to monitor contraction of muscular microtissues. Since 2019 she also works as a mission head for innovation and industrial partnerships at the Institute of Biological Sciences, CNRS.