Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes can be maintained in defined medium without serum.

Area of Science:

• Stem cell biology
• Cardiovascular research
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• Current human embryonic stem (hES) cell-derived cardiomyocyte maintenance uses animal products (mouse cells or fetal bovine serum [FBS]).
• These methods pose risks of pathogen contamination, immunogenicity, and batch-to-batch variability due to FBS lot differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a defined, serum-free medium (CCTI) for maintaining hES cell-derived cardiomyocytes.
• To determine if CCTI medium supports cardiomyocyte phenotype and function comparable to serum-containing methods.

Main Methods:

• Culturing hES cell-derived cardiomyocytes in a defined serum-free medium (CCTI) without feeder cells.
• Assessing cardiac gene transcription levels.
• Analyzing cardiomyocyte-associated protein expression.
• Evaluating cellular response to pharmacological agents.
• Characterizing action potential (AP) properties of beating embryoid bodies and ventricular cells.

Main Results:

• Comparable cardiac gene transcription was observed between CCTI and serum-containing media.
• Cardiomyocyte-specific proteins were expressed in cells cultured with CCTI.
• Beating cells in CCTI medium showed dose-dependent responses to pharmacological agents.
• Ventricular-like action potentials were recorded, with indistinguishable properties between CCTI and serum-cultured ventricular cells.

Conclusions:

• The defined serum-free CCTI medium effectively maintains hES cell-derived cardiomyocytes.
• This serum-free method offers a safer and more consistent alternative for cardiomyocyte culture.
• The findings support the use of CCTI medium for in vitro and in vivo applications of hES cell-derived cardiomyocytes.