Calcium and voltage mapping in hiPSC-CM monolayers

The advent of induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) has revolutionized the cardiovascular research field. Now it is possible to generate a virtually unlimited supply of patient specific pluripotent stem cells and cardiomyocytes that can be used for research purposes, drug toxicity testing and/or regenerative medicine therapies. The most immediate application for this technology is in vitro disease modeling and in vitro drug toxicity testing. To date the majority of disease modeling and drug toxicity testing has been performed on single hiPSC-CMs in culture. However, the study of complex cardiac arrhythmia mechanisms requires a more physiological model system of electrically and mechanically connected hiPSC-CMs that function as a syncytium-like the cardiomyocytes of the adult heart. This review focuses on the work that has been performed recently using hiPSC-CM 2D monolayers for the study of cardiac electrical impulse propagation.