Cardiomyocytes from human and mouse embryonic stem cells

Human and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells have the potential to differentiate to cardiomyocytes in culture. They are therefore of interest for studying early human and mouse heart development, as well as properties of cardiomyocytes from both species, including their responses to cardiac drugs, and, at some point in the future, may represent a source of transplantable cells for cardiac muscle repair. The differentiation protocols that are effective depend in part on the species from which the ES cell lines were derived, and in part on the individual cell lines and the methods used for their propagation prior to differentiation. Here, several methods for generating and characterizing cardiomyocytes from mouse and human ES cells are described, as well as methods for dissociation of cardiomyocytes into single-cell suspensions which are useful both for characterizing cells by antibody staining and electrophysiological measurements, as well as preparing cells for transplantation into (animal) hearts.