Culture Stimulation

Chronic electrical stimulation has been shown to prevent the dedifferentiation of myocytes that occurs in long term culture. 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 kept in normal nitrogen balance for at least 72 hours.

The C-Pace System from IonOptix represents the first commercially available cell culture stimulator. Up to 8 output banks can generate +/-40 V, bipolar pulses. Each bank is sufficient to stimulate a multiwell (4, 6, and 8 well C-Dishes are available) dish. The pulse characteristics (voltage, frequency and duration) can be configured separately for each bank.

The C-Dish is a culture dish electrode assembly that places large-surface area carbon electrodes into a standard multiwell culture dish. The entire assembly is safe to autoclave. The C-Dish is connected to the C-Pace via a single ribbon cable, which is thin enough to thread around an incubator door. The large surface area, pure carbon electrodes reduce the build-up of toxic waste products.

Please consult the C-Pace Overview (PDF) for a partial list of references.

For pricing, availability, options and training, please email or call us.