Uniaxial strain is achieved through selectively controlling the portion of the flexible membrane that is exposed to regulated vacuum. This is achieved through the use of a specially designed Arctangle® Loading Station™ (Fig. 1), which is comprised of a3.3” x 5” Lexan® plate, two nylon support centering posts, and six removable nylon planar faced cylinders, or loading posts. The two centering posts are intended to support the UniFlex® or TissueTrain® plate under high vacuum and also center the plate over the six loading posts. The six loading posts provide the strain surface.The posts are positioned on the Lexan® plate such that each is centered beneath the 35 mm well bottom of a UniFlex® or TissueTrain® culture plate (Fig. 1C). When vacuum is applied to a culture plate with a Flexcell® Tension System, the membrane deforms across the loading post face only at the east and west poles creating uniaxial strain.

Arctangle® Loading Stations™ have maximum and minimum strain capabilities with respect to vacuum level. Table 1 lists the minimum and maximum % elongations for both the UniFlex® and TissueTrain® culture plates when used with the Arctangle® LoadingStations™ and the FX-5000™ Tension System. When creating regimens, do not exceed these values in the min% and max% boxes for experiments in which the Arctangle® Loading Station™ will be used.