Mechanical unloading of 3D-engineered muscle leads to muscle atrophy by suppressing protein synthesis

Three-dimensional (3D)-engineered muscles have recently been shown to closely replicate the in vivo architecture. We found that mechanical unloading of 3D-engineered muscle led to muscle disuse atrophy accompanied by reduced functional properties and contractile protein expression via suppression of muscle protein synthesis. This novel model may improve the in vitro testing of modalities with the potential to reduce mechanical unloading-induced atrophy.