Ultrafast Micrometric Laser Structuring of Polymer Surfaces for Highly Organized Skeletal Muscle Tissue Modeling

Year: 2026

Authors: Duvert L., Garcia-Castillo L., Murru C., Casanova A., Ferry D., Perrin P., Coste S., Bigot A., Alloncle A., Magdinier F., Testa S.

Autors Affiliation: Aix Marseille Univ, Marseille Med Genet, MMG, INSERM, Marseille, France; Natl Res Council INO CNR, Natl Inst Opt, Largo Enr Fermi, Florence, Italy; Aix Marseille Univ, LP3, CNRS, Marseille, France; Aix Marseille Univ, CINaM, CNRS, Marseille, France; Sorbonne Univ, INSERM, Ctr Rech myol, Inst Myol, Paris, France.

Abstract: Engineered surface topographies have proven to be an efficient method to replicate in vitro the architecture of highly organized tissues by controlling the spatial arrangement of cells. In this work, we studied the ability to guide muscle cell development using femtosecond-laser-induced topography on standard culture plates. This technique allows the creation of highly porous microstructured channels that exhibit strong hydrophobicity while offering mechanical cues for cell guidance. We characterized the resulting engineered surfaces by assessing their capacity to direct cellular organization. Myoblasts cultured on laser-structured (LS) surfaces generated more mature myotubes exhibiting enhanced alignment and elongation compared with those cultured on standard plates. We applied the LS surfaces as a proof-of-concept approach to characterize myotube morphology in two common myopathies, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. The superior organization of the myotubes enabled a more accurate assessment at the single-fiber level, revealing disease-specific phenotypes. Here, we present the characterization and validation of an accessible, rapid, and reliable laser-based method for generating micrometric topographies on standard culture plates tailored to skeletal muscle. The effectiveness and versatility of LS supports provide initial evidence for their use in disease modelling and support their future application in therapeutic screening and personalized medicine.

Journal/Review: ADVANCED SCIENCE

More Information: This work was funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR Medilibs and Diagem pr ojects) together with the French Defense Innovation Agency (ANR-DGA/AID-ICELARE Project ID ANR-20-ASTR-0004). The PhD thesis of Lucas Duvert was co-funded by Aix-Marseille University and the French Defense Innovation Agency. This work received support from the French government under the France 2030 investment plan, as part of the Initiative d’Excellence d’Aix-Marseille Universite – A*MIDEX AMX-23-CPJ-05. The project leading to this publication has received funding from the Excellence Initiative of Aix-Marseille University- A*MIDEX, a French programme d’investissement d’avenir AMX-19-IET-007, through the MarMaRa funding scheme and financial support of GIS FC3R through funds managed by Inserm (Project reference number: 24FC3R-020). This work also received support from Friends of FSH Research. This work was conducted using LaMP facilities at LP3 and the MMG imaging facility. The authors also acknowledge the Region SUD. We also thank MyoLine, the human cell immortalization platform of the Institut de Myologie, for providing us with the immortalized human myoblasts used for our experiments.
KeyWords: biomimetic surface; direct laser writing; polymer structuring; skeletal muscle; tissue engineering; topographical guidance
DOI: 10.1002/advs.78129