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Updated: Aug 22, 2026
Simultaneous Isolation and Culture of Atrial Myocytes, Ventricular Myocytes, and Non-Myocytes from an Adult Mouse Heart
Published on: June 14, 2020
Adult ventricular cardiomyocytes: isolation and culture
Klaus-Dieter Schlüter1, Daniela Schreiber
1Physiologisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany.
Insights
This study details a method for isolating adult ventricular cardiomyocytes, crucial for biological research. The technique ensures a sufficient yield of viable cells for experiments by addressing challenges in cell adhesion and division.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Cell Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Isolated cardiomyocytes are essential for studying heart cell biology.
- Challenges include firm cell adhesion and lack of cell division, limiting experimental scale.
- Current methods often yield insufficient quantities of viable cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide detailed instructions for isolating ventricular cardiomyocytes from adult hearts.
- To optimize the yield of calcium-tolerant, rod-shaped cardiomyocytes.
- To adapt isolation protocols for various species.
Main Methods:
- Calcium-free perfusion of the intact adult heart.
- Collagenase supplementation to disrupt intercellular connections.
- Isolation and purification of cardiomyocytes from other cardiac cell types.
- Restoration of physiological calcium concentration for cell viability.
Main Results:
- Successful isolation of viable, rod-shaped ventricular cardiomyocytes.
- The described method ensures a reliable supply of cells for research.
- Adaptations for non-rat species are summarized.
Conclusions:
- The presented method provides efficient isolation of adult ventricular cardiomyocytes.
- This technique overcomes limitations of cell adhesion and division for experimental use.
- The protocol is adaptable for broader applications in cardiac research across species.
Abstract:
Isolated cardiomyocytes are a prerequisite to study the biology of cardiomyocytes. Efficient isolation is difficult, as these cells adhere firmly together in the heart and do not divide. Therefore, any experiment is restricted to the amount of calcium-tolerant, rod-shaped cardiomyocytes that can be initially isolated from the heart. This chapter gives detailed instructions on how ventricular cardiomyocytes can be isolated from an intact adult heart. The method is based on the principle of calcium-free perfusion with collagenase supplementation to disrupt cell-cell contacts in the heart, isolation and purification of cardiomyocytes from other cell types, and, finally, re-establishing a physiological cellular calcium concentration. The chapter also summarizes some commonly used adaptations to isolate cardiomyocytes from species different from rat.
