November 11, 2026 at 3:21 PMLife › Biotech1 min read

KIST builds muscle-on-chip with human cells that responds to exercise-like stimulation and high glucose

Korean researchers combined human muscle cells, motor neurons and endothelial cells on one chip; it is intended as a preclinical in vitro platform for testing stimuli.

KIST announced on November 11 that a team led by senior researcher Kim Ji-hoon, with groups of Prof. Son Jang-won (Catholic University) and Prof. Jeong Seok (Korea University), built a human muscle model on a chip, yna.co.kr reports yna.co.kr. It combines muscle cells, motor neurons and vascular endothelial cells in one microdevice.

Three-dimensional muscle tissue forms inside the chip, and motor neurons extend along microchannels to it. Repeated nerve stimulation, imitating exercise, thickened muscle fibers and raised energy-metabolism gene activity, mitochondrial function and glucose uptake. In a high-glucose environment imitating metabolic stress, energy metabolism declined.

Co-culturing with endothelial cells changed the calcium signal of motor neurons and the muscle response to stimulation, the team said. They expect to use the chip to test drug candidates and exercise or rehabilitation stimuli in human cells. The results appeared on September 4 in Advanced Materials.