Armstrong, James P.K.Puetzer, Jennifer L.Serio, AndreaGuex, Anne GéraldineKapnisi, MichaellaBreant, AlexandreZong, YifanAssal, ValentineSkaalure, Stacey C.King, OisínMurty, TaraMeinert, ChristophFranklin, Amanda C.Bassindale, Philip G.Nichols, Madeleine K.Terracciano, Cesare M.Hutmacher, Dietmar W.Drinkwater, Bruce W.Klein, Travis J.Perriman, Adam W.Stevens, Molly M.2026-03-272026-03-270935-9648PubMed:30277617ORCID:/0000-0003-2205-9364/work/209602511https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733807935Tissue engineering has offered unique opportunities for disease modeling and regenerative medicine; however, the success of these strategies is dependent on faithful reproduction of native cellular organization. Here, it is reported that ultrasound standing waves can be used to organize myoblast populations in material systems for the engineering of aligned muscle tissue constructs. Patterned muscle engineered using type I collagen hydrogels exhibits significant anisotropy in tensile strength, and under mechanical constraint, produced microscale alignment on a cell and fiber level. Moreover, acoustic patterning of myoblasts in gelatin methacryloyl hydrogels significantly enhances myofibrillogenesis and promotes the formation of muscle fibers containing aligned bundles of myotubes, with a width of 120–150 µm and a spacing of 180–220 µm. The ability to remotely pattern fibers of aligned myotubes without any material cues or complex fabrication procedures represents a significant advance in the field of muscle tissue engineering. In general, these results are the first instance of engineered cell fibers formed from the differentiation of acoustically patterned cells. It is anticipated that this versatile methodology can be applied to many complex tissue morphologies, with broader relevance for spatially organized cell cultures, organoid development, and bioelectronics.J.P.K.A. acknowledges support from the Arthritis Research U.K. Foundation (21138) and the Medical Research Council (MR/S00551X/1). J.L.P. and S.C.S. were supported by the Whitaker International Program, Institute of International Education, USA. A.G.G. is grateful to fellowships from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. P2BEP3_152091 and P300PB_161072). M.K. was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) bursary scheme at Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London. O.K. acknowledges Ph.D. funding from the British Heart Foundation. T.M. acknowledges support from the Weissman International Internship Program Grant, Harvard University, USA. S.C.S. acknowledges support from H2020 through the Individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship “RADoTE” under grant agreement (701664). C.M. acknowledges support from an International Lab Travel Grant provided by the Australasian Society of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (ASBTE). A.C.F. acknowledges Ph.D. funding through an EPSRC DRP studentship. P.G.B. and M.K.N. acknowledge support from the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials (EPSRC Grant Number No. EP/L016648/1). C.M.T. acknowledges support from the BHF Centre for Regenerative Medicine award at Imperial College London (RM/13/1/30157). D.W.H. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council (IC160100026). B.W.D. acknowledges support from the Royal Society and the Wolfson Foundation. T.J.K. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council (FT110100166, DP110103543, and IC160100026). A.W.P. acknowledges support by the EPSRC Early Career Fellowship (EP/K026720/1). M.M.S. and J.L.P. were funded by the grant from the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform “Acellular Approaches for Therapeutic Delivery” (MR/K026682/1).7enPublisher Copyright: © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheimacousticmusclepatterningtissue engineeringultrasound standing waves2018-10-2510.1002/adma.20180264985053401992