Journal of Biological Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Beyond linearity: reimagining AI as a participant in circular bioeconomies.","authors":"Aarthi Muthukumar, Barira Rashid, Lihong Yang","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00672-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00672-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As artificial intelligence transitions from industry-exclusive tool to public-facing technology, society faces critical decisions about its integration into socioecological systems. This paper proposes a reimagining of AI as a synthetic participant in the circular bioeconomy (CBE)-a regenerative model emphasizing cyclical flows of resources, information, and energy. Drawing on Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory and Donna Haraway's posthumanism, we reconceptualize AI as a non-living organism capable of functioning within multispecies systems, analogous to viruses that shape ecosystems without conventional life. Conventional, in that it meets the standard biological criteria for like: metabolism, reproduction, and homeostasis. AI, like viruses, does not meet this biological criteria. Current AI applications in CBE-from biowaste recycling to precision agriculture-demonstrate both transformative potential and ethical concerns. While AI enables unprecedented efficiency through advanced algorithms and embodied robotics, it risks perpetuating extractive logics that treat information as a resource to be mined rather than circulated. Critical ethical challenges emerge including algorithmic bias amplifying inequalities, epistemic opacity eroding stakeholder trust, blurred accountability for AI-driven harm, displacement of human labor, and marginalization of indigenous and local ecological knowledge. Through examples in medicine and remote sensing, we argue that AI becomes a \"friend\" to the Circular Bioeconomy (CBE) only when designed as circular and relational rather than linear and extractive. This requires synthetic datasets preserving privacy, multimodal architectures enabling dimensional understanding, and human-machine-ecosystem feedback loops replacing terminal outputs with ongoing accountability. Ultimately, AI's role depends on intentional design grounded in justice and multispecies dignity-transforming it from extractive tool into participant in shared regenerative futures.</p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13023148/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147529253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-titer 2-phenylethanol production in Escherichia coli via decarboxylation-step optimization and a vegetable-oil overlay for biocompatible in situ recovery.","authors":"Chang Liu, Hongwei Zhang, Wanbin Xing, Rina Na, Xuanyu Meng, Sichen Huang, Linlin Wang, Guoqiang Cao, Pengchao Wang","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00667-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00667-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) is a high-value aromatic alcohol. Its bioproduction is limited by pathway bottlenecks, limited by a rate-limiting decarboxylation step, product toxicity, and volatilization. We sought to build an efficient Escherichia coli (E. coli) platform by optimizing the segment of the Ehrlich route that converts L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) to 2-PE, together with a food-grade soybean-oil overlay for in situ product recovery (ISPR). RESULTS: Whole-cell assays showed that phenylpyruvate decarboxylation was the main bottleneck when the yeast decarboxylase Aro10 was used. A phylogeny-guided screen identified Lactococcus lactis KivD as a superior substitute in E. coli. After replacing Aro10 with KivD and tuning expression, leveraging endogenous glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) for NAD(P)H recycling enabled sufficient cofactor regeneration, yielding 49.5 mM 2-PE from 50 mM L-Phe with 99.0% conversion. At the shake-flask scale, a fed-batch L-Phe feeding strategy coupled with a 2:1 soybean-oil overlay for in situ product removal reduced toxicity and volatilization losses, producing 130 mM 2-PE (15.9 g/L). Using soybean oil as an ISPR phase effectively sequestered 2-PE from the aqueous phase, minimizing volatilization and increasing the overall recovered yield to 94.2% based on L-Phe consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Replacing the rate-limiting decarboxylation step with KivD, balancing redox through cofactor recycling, and coupling the pathway to a mild oil-overlay recovery increased flux and enabled high-titer 2-PE in E. coli. The workflow of bottleneck substitution plus biocompatible in situ recovery can be transferred to related aromatic alcohols and provides a foundation for de novo routes and high-cell-density fermentations that target still higher titers. </p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13147604/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147529196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CIRCLE-F/V: a dual-mode CRISPR-Cas13a cascade biosensor for ultrasensitive and visual detection of low-abundance EGFR mutations.","authors":"Tao Zhu, Zixuan Wang, Yingyu Wu, Weiwei Jiang, Fei Deng, Rong Fang, Danting Yang","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00675-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00675-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Precise identification of low-frequency EGFR L858R mutations is crucial for targeted therapy and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we present CIRCLE-F/V (CRISPR-based Integrated Restriction-assisted Cyclic Loop-mediated Enhancement Fluorescence/Visual platform), a dual-mode CRISPR-Cas13a cascade biosensor enabling ultrasensitive and specific mutation detection through integrated fluorescence and visual readouts. The system combines restriction-assisted mutant enrichment with cyclic CRISPR signal amplification. Genomic DNA is selectively digested with MscI to eliminate wild-type alleles, followed by T7 promoter–mediated PCR amplification and in vitro transcription. The resulting RNA activates Cas13a-crRNA complexes, initiating both direct reporter cleavage and dumbbell-triggered cascade amplification (DTCA) -mediated secondary signal enhancement. Under optimized conditions, the fluorescence mode achieved a variant allele frequency (VAF) sensitivity of 0.01%, with an estimated genomic DNA detection limit of ~ 3.6 fM in the integrated workflow and an RNA detection limit of ~ 2.16 pM. By replacing the fluorescent reporter with a FAM–biotin probe, the visual mode via lateral flow strips was realized with a VAF sensitivity of 0.01%. Clinical validation demonstrated complete concordance with next-generation sequencing (NGS), accurately classifying as high-, low-, and negative mutation samples. By integrating selective allele enrichment, cyclic amplification, and dual-mode readout, CIRCLE-F/V represents a sensitive, versatile, and clinically adaptable platform for rapid EGFR genotyping and early NSCLC screening.</p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13122896/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147529221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physics-based simulation of ultrasound propagation from MRI volumes for cross-modal breast imaging.","authors":"Aarthi Muthukumar, Isain Zapata, Amanda Brooks","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00658-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00658-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of breast tissue is often used to definitively diagnose breast cancer due to its high soft-tissue contrast. However, its high cost and limited accessibility make it unsuitable for real-time screening, unlike ultrasound. Machine learning models that synthesize MRI from ultrasound could enable low-cost screening and triage by providing MRI-like tissue characterization during routine ultrasound exams. However, machine learning models trained to generate synthetic MRIs from ultrasound often struggle due to the absence of paired datasets across imaging modalities. This lack of paired datasets is a particular struggle in the field of model building for medical imaging purposes. We propose a physics-based method for generating synthetic ultrasound images from MRI volumes using mathematical modeling of acoustic beam propagation and tissue composition.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We use a singular MRI example as a proof-of-concept of this physics simulation, which is based on pre-existing ultrasound physics. Each MRI slice was divided into a 2 × 2 grid to identify local beam entry regions. Tangent lines were calculated along each grid edge to estimate perpendicular ultrasound beam paths in a pinwheel fashion around the breast tissue. Initial simulations indicate that the generated ultrasound-like images reproduce plausible intensity gradients and textural variation consistent with known acoustic-tissue interactions.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In resource-limited settings, access to MRI for breast cancer workup remains a significant barrier when ultrasound findings are inconclusive. To enable development of cross-modal synthesis models, we present a physics-based simulation framework that creates paired MRI-ultrasound training datasets by synthesizing realistic ultrasound images from available MRI data. This supports the feasibility of using physics-driven methods to generate synthetic ultrasound from MRI data. Because contrast enhancement and vascular permeability are not modeled, this framework should be interpreted as a non-contrast anatomical MRI to conventional B-mode ultrasound simulation rather than a complete cross-modal transformation that captures DCE-MRI or contrast-enhanced ultrasound behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13141356/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147520856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chitosan-based hydrogels for nitric oxide-mediated myocardial repair: advances and prospects.","authors":"Hongjian Zheng, Kaili Wang, Liping Wang","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00657-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00657-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality across the world, and thus, there is a need to develop new therapeutic modalities for cardiac treatment. Recent studies have highlighted the ability of chitosan-based hydrogel to release nitric oxide (NO) in a sustained manner over a duration of days to weeks. This type of delivery significantly boosts angiogenic networks, reduces the size of the infarct, and improves the function of the left ventricle compared with conventional methods of NO administration. A range of NO releasing species, such as diazeniumdiolates and S-nitrosothiols, have been integrated into chitosan scaffolds to induce localized and temporally controlled NO bioavailability, thus overcoming the short half-life and systemic toxicity inherent to free NO donors. The current review evaluates the recent advances in the design, efficiency, and therapeutic potential of chitosan-based NO-releasing hydrogel, especially in the results of preclinical MI models. The main issues of mechanical strength, degradation kinetics, and in vivo stability, as well as new approaches based on hybrid biomaterials and stimuli-responsive platforms, are discussed. The shortcomings of these hydrogels and future opportunities for enhancing their translational opportunities in cardiovascular therapeutics are outlined in detail.</p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13141447/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147520836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Desiccation-tolerant Acinetobacter as a robust chassis candidate for gas-phase bioprocesses.","authors":"Shogo Yoshimoto, Hayata Yamada, Shori Inoue, Katsutoshi Hori","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00668-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00668-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Gas-phase bioprocesses that immobilize microbial cells on solid carriers enable efficient conversion of volatile or poorly water-soluble substrates. Acinetobacter sp. Tol 5 is a highly adhesive bacterium capable of utilizing various hydrocarbons, making it a promising chassis candidate for gas-phase bioprocesses. However, Gas-phase bioprocesses expose cells to fluctuating humidity and transient desiccation that can compromise viability and catalytic performance. In Gram-negative bacteria, especially in pathogens, desiccation is known to impose multifactorial stress, such as loss of cellular water and energetics, damage to DNA and proteins, oxidative stress, and disruption of the cell envelope. In contrast, for chassis strains used in or being considered for gas-phase bioprocesses, their desiccation tolerance including robustness of biocatalytic activity following humidity fluctuations and responses to desiccation stress remain incompletely defined. RESULTS: Here, we evaluated the viability, energy status, and gas-phase toluene degradation of Tol 5 as a chassis for gas-phase processes after controlled desiccation (8%, 52%, and > 95% RH), in comparison with Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, Pseudomonas putida, and Escherichia coli. To minimize adhesion-related bias in post-desiccation measurements, we used an ataA-deficient Tol 5 mutant (Tol 5 ΔataA) for the assays. Acinetobacter strains maintained high viability during desiccation for 16 days, whereas P. putida and E. coli showed significant loss of viability at 8% RH and 52% RH. Intracellular ATP measurements further indicated that desiccation reduced intracellular ATP in all strains, but E. coli rapidly exhausted ATP at 8% and 52% RH, whereas Acinetobacter strains and P. putida retained intracellular ATP. In a gas-phase toluene degradation assay, immobilized Tol 5 retained higher toluene-degrading activity after desiccation than P. putida mt-2. Transcriptome profiling revealed a multilayered Tol 5 response involving DNA and RNA maintenance, cell envelope trafficking and remodeling, redox-responsive functions, and broad repression of growth-associated metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight Acinetobacter, particularly Tol 5, as a promising chassis candidate for gas-phase bioprocesses and suggest potential mechanistic targets for stabilizing bacterial cells under low-water-activity conditions. </p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13130816/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147503911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biosensor-guided directed evolution of aldehyde dehydrogenase for improved adipic acid production from caprolactone.","authors":"Haetsal Kim, Soo Young Moon, Joon Young Park, Seung-Ho Baek, Bong Hyun Sung, Jeong Wook Lee, Ju Young Lee, Myung Hyun Noh","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00665-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00665-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biological production of adipic acid, a crucial building block in nylon and polymer manufacturing, from renewable feedstocks has attracted attention as a sustainable alternative to the traditional petrochemical production. The enzymatic conversion of ε-caprolactone into adipic acid via alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH2) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) represents a promising route due to its short pathway and high theoretical yield. To optimize this conversion route in Escherichia coli and enhance conversion efficiency, we constructed an adipic acid-responsive biosensor for high-throughput screening. By systematically optimizing the biosensor system, we achieved a 7.15-fold dynamic range. Using this biosensor system, we performed directed evolution of the low-activity ALDH and identified variants with improved conversion performance. The K23Q mutant showed a 2.33-fold increase in adipic acid conversion efficiency and subsequent fed-batch fermentation achieved 30.1 g/L of adipic acid production from ε-caprolactone with 92.7% of theoretical maximum yield. These results demonstrate the potential of biosensor-guided enzyme engineering to enhance catalytic efficiency and support the sustainable biological production of adipic acid.</p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13130800/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147503868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Engineered Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)-electrospun nanofibers for wound healing: a review.","authors":"Mohamed A Abdelkhalek, Mohamed M Abdelaal, Sara A Abdel Gaber","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00650-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00650-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)/nanofiber composites represent a significant evolution in advanced wound care, offering a multi-functional platform for controlled therapeutic delivery and accelerated tissue regeneration. The superior performance of these systems is frequently reported with nearly 100% wound closure within 14 days and a broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy, yet the clinical translation remains contingent upon addressing technical and toxicological constraints. On the top of those constraints are the lack of long term stability data and precise dosing protocols in complex wound environments. This review provides a critical evaluation of these composites, analyzing established nanofibers impeded with zinc, copper, silver, zirconium alongside emerging iron -based MOFs that provide superior biocompatibility and enzymatic ‘chemodynamic’ activity, and cobalt systems which offer unique hypoxia-mimicking properties for angiogenesis. In this review the stability-toxicity paradox inherent in ion-releasing MOFs/nanofiber composites is emphasized. We further examine the structural hurdles of fabrication, specifically the rheological disruptions and interfacial mismatches that occur during electrospinning. Furthermore, the role of Machine Learning is evaluated as a predictive framework whose clinical accuracy is currently limited by the stochastic nature of the biological systems. Additionally, the impact of MOF architectures on nanofiber piezoelectricity is demonstrated, raising questions regarding the sustainability of electroactive effects during framework decomposition. In this way, this review identifies persistent research gaps in material stability and long-term biocompatibility, providing a realistic roadmap for the development of next-generation bioactive wound interfaces.</p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13064101/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147503846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel chassis for high-quality recombinant protein expression: apoptosis pathway engineering via multi-gene knockout and efficacy improvement of CHO cells.","authors":"Youzhi Wu, Ying Cao, Zexuan Guo, Yanhua Ma, Xiaohui Zan, Xingjin Gu, Fan Zhang, Chunxia Chai, Rui Nui, Qiang Shang, Wei Wang","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00669-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00669-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are pivotal in biopharmaceutical production, yet balancing high recombinant protein yield with cell survival remains challenging. While previous studies have targeted single apoptotic regulators, the synergistic effects of multi-gene ablation on protein stability are unknown. RESULTS: This study presents a multi-knockout strategy for CHO cells. Herewithin, CHO-K1 knockout lines were engineered via CRISPR-Cas9 targeting of key triple (TKO, BAK/BAX/CASP3), double (DKO, BAK/BAX), and single (SKO, CASP3) apoptotic nodes. Subsequently, comprehensive analyses of apoptosis, cell viability, doubling time, cell cycle, and mitochondrial membrane potential were conducted for isolated clones. The triple knockout cell lines exhibited the highest overall levels of cell viability, a shortened doubling time, and enhanced resistance to apoptosis. These characteristics directly translated to improved expression of recombinant blue fluorescent protein, with triple knockouts outperforming WT and single/double knockout lines. CONCLUSIONS: These findings establish a robust foundation for engineering apoptosis-resistant CHO cell lines with enhanced protein production capacity, offering a promising approach for improved efficiency and reduced costs in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. </p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13130613/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147494009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In vitro electrical stimulation devices: practical framework for design, fabrication, and operation.","authors":"Gaurav Kulkarni, Jorge M Garcia, Miriam Isasi-Campillo, María Ujué González, Sahba Mobini","doi":"10.1186/s13036-026-00664-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13036-026-00664-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BACKGROUND: Electrical stimulation of cell culture systems has shown significant potential benefits, attracting growing interest in bioelectrical research and tissue engineering. However, implementing effective stimulation remains challenging due to the complexity of device design, protocol selection, and procedure standardization. Many biology-focused laboratories face a knowledge gap in electronics and electrochemistry, complicating the choice of circuits, electrode materials, and configurations, which often leads to a lack of reproducible and standardized protocols. RESULTS: We present a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for developing a cost-effective, high-throughput, and adaptable in vitro electrical stimulation device containing platinum electrodes. The guide includes a method to develop standard operating protocol, maintenance instructions, and a practical example of device use. We describe an approach to design and approximate electrical stimulation protocols using electrochemical characterization and equivalent circuit modelling. All design files, circuit diagrams, component lists, measurements, and simulations are provided as open-access resources. CONCLUSIONS: This work offers a fully replicable framework for implementing electrical stimulation in any laboratory with basic electronics and electrochemistry knowledge. By providing simulation tools, standardized protocols and accessible design resources, it addresses reproducibility challenges and facilitates broader adoption of bioelectrical stimulation in cell culture research. </p>","PeriodicalId":15053,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biological Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13127091/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147486079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}