Elements and development processes for test methods in toxicology and human health-relevant life science research.

Many laboratory procedures generate data on properties of chemicals, but they cannot be equated with toxicological "test methods". This apparent discrepancy is not limited to in vitro testing, using animal-free new approach methods (NAM), but also applies to animal-based testing approaches. Here, we give a brief overview of the differences between data generation and the setup or use of a complete test method. While there is excellent literature available on this topic for specialists (GIVIMP guidance; ToxTemp overview), a brief overview and easily-accessible entry point may be useful for a broader community. We provide a single figure to summarize all test method elements and processes required in the development (setup and adaptation) of a test method. The exposure scheme, the endpoint, and the test system are briefly outlined as fundamental elements of any test method. A rationale is provided, why they are not sufficient. We then explain the importance and role of purpose definition (including some information on what is modelled) and the prediction model, aka data interpretation procedure, which depends on the purpose definition, as further essential elements. This connection exemplifies that all fundamental elements are interdependent, and none can be omitted. Finally, discussion is provided on validation as a measure to provide confidence in the reliability, performance, and relevance of a test method. In this sense, validation may be considered a sixth fundamental element for practical use of test methods.

Many laboratory procedures generate data on chemicals, but they cannot be considered complete toxicological "test methods". Here, we give a brief explanation of the fundamental elements of a toxicological test method. We provide an illustration that gives a complete overview of the devel­opment of a test method for non-specialists. We introduce the six fundamental elements, i.e., the exposure scheme, the test endpoint, the test system, the purpose definition and the prediction model and describe how they work together. Finally, we discuss the concept of validation. An understanding of these concepts is important for good-quality scientific research and especially for the development and acceptance of alternatives to animal experiments.

Cell Therapy by Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Versus Myoblasts in a Pig Model of Urinary Incontinence.

The leading cause of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women is the urethral sphincter muscle deficiency caused by mechanical stress during pregnancy and vaginal delivery. In men, prostate cancer surgery and injury of local nerves and muscles are associated with incontinence. Current treatment often fails to satisfy the patient's needs. Cell therapy may improve the situation. We therefore investigated the regeneration potential of cells in ameliorating sphincter muscle deficiency and UI in a large animal model. Urethral sphincter deficiency was induced surgically in gilts by electrocautery and balloon dilatation. Adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) and myoblasts from Musculus semitendinosus were isolated from male littermates, expanded, characterized in depth for expression of marker genes and in vitro differentiation, and labeled. The cells were injected into the deficient sphincter complex of the incontinent female littermates. Incontinent gilts receiving no cell therapy served as controls. Sphincter deficiency and functional regeneration were recorded by monitoring the urethral wall pressure during follow-up by two independent methods. Cells injected were detected in vivo during follow-up by transurethral fluorimetry, ex vivo by fluorescence imaging, and in cryosections of tissues targeted by immunofluorescence and by polymerase chain reaction of the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene. Partial spontaneous regeneration of sphincter muscle function was recorded in control gilts, but the sphincter function remained significantly below levels measured before induction of incontinence (67.03% ± 14.00%, n = 6, p < 0.05). Injection of myoblasts yielded an improved sphincter regeneration within 5 weeks of follow-up but did not reach significance compared to control gilts (81.54% ± 25.40%, n = 5). A significant and full recovery of the urethral sphincter function was observed upon injection of ADSCs within 5 weeks of follow-up (100.4% ± 23.13%, n = 6, p < 0.05). Injection of stromal cells provoked slightly stronger infiltration of CD45pos leukocytes compared to myoblasts injections and controls. The data of this exploratory study indicate that ADSCs inherit a significant potential to regenerate the function of the urethral sphincter muscle.

Proteomic responses in the human dopaminergic LUHMES cell line to imidacloprid and its metabolites imidacloprid-olefin and desnitro-imidacloprid.

Neonicotinoids (neonics) are amongst the most commonly used class of pesticides globally. In the United States, imidacloprid (IMI) is extensively used for agriculture and in other common applications such as house-hold pest control. Regular exposure to IMI, and several of its known metabolites including IMI-olefin and desnitro-imidacloprid (DN-IMI), has been shown to be harmful to many organisms including mammals, birds, and fish. Studies show that neonics bind human nicotinicacetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and cause cellular toxicity. In the dopaminergic Lund human mesencephalic (LUHMES) cell line, IMI and other neonics (10-100 µM) have been recently shown to activate intracellular calcium signaling through nAChRs. Thus, we examined proteomic responses of LUHMES cells to a 48-h treatment with 50 µM IMI, IMI-olefin, or DN-IMI. Our findings show differential effects of these neonics on cellular protein expression. Bioinformatic analysis of significantly altered proteins indicates an effect of IMI, IMI-olefin, and DN-IMI on protein synthesis and ribosomal function. These findings suggest a role for protein synthesis and transcriptional regulation in neonic-mediated dopaminergic neurotoxicity.

A flexible implant for acute intrapancreatic electrophysiology.

Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have proven to be a powerful tool to study electrophysiological processes over the last decades with most technology developed for investigation of the heart or brain. Other targets in the field of bioelectronic medicine are the peripheral nervous system and its innervation of various organs. Beyond the heart and nervous systems, the beta cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans generate action potentials during the production of insulin. In vitro experiments have demonstrated that their activity is a biomarker for blood glucose levels, suggesting that recording their activity in vivo could support patients suffering from diabetes mellitus with long-term automated read-out of blood glucose concentrations. Here, we present a flexible polymer-based implant having 64 low impedance microelectrodes designed to be implanted to a depth of 10 mm into the pancreas. As a first step, the implant will be used in acute experiments in pigs to explore the electrophysiological processes of the pancreas in vivo. Beyond use in the pancreas, our flexible implant and simple implantation method may also be used in other organs such as the brain.

Assay for evaluation of proarrhythmic effects of herbal products: Case study with 12 Evodia preparations.

Guidelines for preclinical drug development reduce the occurrence of arrhythmia-related side effects. Besides ample evidence for the presence of arrhythmogenic substances in plants, there is no consensus on a research strategy for the evaluation of proarrhythmic effects of herbal products. Here, we propose a cardiac safety assay for the detection of proarrhythmic effects of plant extracts based on the experimental approaches described in the Comprehensive In vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA). Microelectrode array studies (MEAs) and voltage sensing optical technique on human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) were combined with ionic current measurements in mammalian cell lines, In-silico simulations of cardiac action potentials (APs) and statistic regression analysis. Proarrhythmic effects of 12 Evodia preparations, containing different amounts of the hERG inhibitors dehydroevodiamine (DHE) and hortiamine were analysed. Extracts produced different prolongation of the AP, occurrence of early after depolarisations and triangulation of the AP in hiPSC-CMs depending on the contents of the hERG inhibitors. DHE and hortiamine dose-dependently prolonged the field potential duration in hiPSC-CMs studied with MEAs. In-silico simulations of ventricular AP support a scenario where proarrhythmic effects of Evodia extracts are predominantly caused by the content of the selective hERG inhibitors. Statistic regression analysis revealed a high torsadogenic risk for both compounds that was comparable to drugs assigned to the high-risk category in a CiPA study.

Laser-Induced Action Potential-Like Measurements of Cardiomyocytes on Microelectrode Arrays for Increased Predictivity of Safety Pharmacology.

Life-threatening drug-induced cardiac arrhythmia is often preceded by prolonged cardiac action potentials (AP), commonly accompanied by small proarrhythmic membrane potential fluctuations. The shape and time course of the repolarizing fraction of the AP can be pivotal for the presence or absence of arrhythmia. Microelectrode arrays (MEA) allow easy access to cardiotoxic compound effects via extracellular field potentials (FP). Although a powerful and well-established tool in research and cardiac safety pharmacology, the FP waveform does not allow to infer the original AP shape due to the extracellular recording principle and the resulting intrinsic alternating current (AC) filtering. A novel device, described here, can repetitively open the membrane of cardiomyocytes cultivated on top of the MEA electrodes at multiple cultivation time points, using a highly focused nanosecond laser beam. The laser poration results in transforming the electrophysiological signal from FP to intracellular-like APs (laser-induced AP, liAP) and enables the recording of transcellular voltage deflections. This intracellular access allows a better description of the AP shape and a better and more sensitive classification of proarrhythmic potentials than regular MEA recordings. This system is a revolutionary extension to the existing electrophysiological methods, permitting accurate evaluation of cardiotoxic effect with all advantages of MEA-based recordings (easy, acute, and chronic experiments, signal propagation analysis, etc.).

Acute effects of the imidacloprid metabolite desnitro-imidacloprid on human nACh receptors relevant for neuronal signaling.

Several neonicotinoids have recently been shown to activate the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) on human neurons. Moreover, imidacloprid (IMI) and other members of this pesticide family form a set of diverse metabolites within crops. Among these, desnitro-imidacloprid (DN-IMI) is of special toxicological interest, as there is evidence (i) for human dietary exposure to this metabolite, (ii) and that DN-IMI is a strong trigger of mammalian nicotinic responses. We set out here to quantify responses of human nAChRs to DN-IMI and an alternative metabolite, IMI-olefin. To evaluate toxicological hazards, these data were then compared to those of IMI and nicotine. Ca2+-imaging experiments on human neurons showed that DN-IMI exhibits an agonistic effect on nAChRs at sub-micromolar concentrations (equipotent with nicotine) while IMI-olefin activated the receptors less potently (in a similar range as IMI). Direct experimental data on the interaction with defined receptor subtypes were obtained by heterologous expression of various human nAChR subtypes in Xenopus laevis oocytes and measurement of the transmembrane currents evoked by exposure to putative ligands. DN-IMI acted on the physiologically important human nAChR subtypes α7, α3ß4, and α4ß2 (high-sensitivity variant) with similar potency as nicotine. IMI and IMI-olefin were confirmed as nAChR agonists, although with 2-3 orders of magnitude lower potency. Molecular docking studies, using receptor models for the α7 and α4ß2 nAChR subtypes supported an activity of DN-IMI similar to that of nicotine. In summary, these data suggest that DN-IMI functionally affects human neurons similar to the well-established neurotoxicant nicotine by triggering α7 and several non-α7 nAChRs.

Functional alterations by a subgroup of neonicotinoid pesticides in human dopaminergic neurons.

Neonicotinoid pesticides, originally developed to target the insect nervous system, have been reported to interact with human receptors and to activate rodent neurons. Therefore, we evaluated in how far these compounds may trigger signaling in human neurons, and thus, affect the human adult or developing nervous system. We used SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells as established model of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) signaling. In parallel, we profiled dopaminergic neurons, generated from LUHMES neuronal precursor cells, as novel system to study nAChR activation in human post-mitotic neurons. Changes of the free intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) were used as readout, and key findings were confirmed by patch clamp recordings. Nicotine triggered typical neuronal signaling responses that were blocked by antagonists, such as tubocurarine and mecamylamine. Pharmacological approaches suggested a functional expression of α7 and non-α7 nAChRs on LUHMES cells. In this novel test system, the neonicotinoids acetamiprid, imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiacloprid, but not thiamethoxam and dinotefuran, triggered [Ca2+]i signaling at 10-100 µM. Strong synergy of the active neonicotinoids (at low micromolar concentrations) with the α7 nAChR-positive allosteric modulator PNU-120596 was observed in LUHMES and SH-SY5Y cells, and specific antagonists fully inhibited such signaling. To provide a third line of evidence for neonicotinoid signaling via nAChR, we studied cross-desensitization: pretreatment of LUHMES and SH-SY5Y cells with active neonicotinoids (at 1-10 µM) blunted the signaling response of nicotine. The pesticides (at 3-30 µM) also blunted the response to the non-α7 agonist ABT 594 in LUHMES cells. These data show that human neuronal cells are functionally affected by low micromolar concentrations of several neonicotinoids. An effect of such signals on nervous system development is a toxicological concern.

The potential of induced pluripotent stem cells for discriminating neurodevelopmental disorders.

Studying human disease-specific processes and mechanisms in vitro is limited by a lack of valid human test systems. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) evolve as an important and promising tool to better understand the molecular pathology of neurodevelopmental disorders. Patient-derived iPSCs enable analysis of unique disease mechanisms and may also serve for preclinical drug development. Here, we review the current knowledge on iPSC models for schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders with emphasis on the discrimination between them. It appears that transcriptomic analyses and functional read-outs are the most promising approaches to uncover specific disease mechanisms in vitro.

Human neuronal signaling and communication assays to assess functional neurotoxicity.

Prediction of drug toxicity on the human nervous system still relies mainly on animal experiments. Here, we developed an alternative system allowing assessment of complex signaling in both individual human neurons and on the network level. The LUHMES cultures used for our approach can be cultured in 384-well plates with high reproducibility. We established here high-throughput quantification of free intracellular Ca2+ concentrations [Ca2+]i as broadly applicable surrogate of neuronal activity and verified the main processes by patch clamp recordings. Initially, we characterized the expression pattern of many neuronal signaling components and selected the purinergic receptors to demonstrate the applicability of the [Ca2+]i signals for quantitative characterization of agonist and antagonist responses on classical ionotropic neurotransmitter receptors. This included receptor sub-typing and the characterization of the anti-parasitic drug suramin as modulator of the cellular response to ATP. To exemplify potential studies on ion channels, we characterized voltage-gated sodium channels and their inhibition by tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin and lidocaine, as well as their opening by the plant alkaloid veratridine and the food-relevant marine biotoxin ciguatoxin. Even broader applicability of [Ca2+]i quantification as an end point was demonstrated by measurements of dopamine transporter activity based on the membrane potential-changing activity of this neurotransmitter carrier. The substrates dopamine or amphetamine triggered [Ca2+]i oscillations that were synchronized over the entire culture dish. We identified compounds that modified these oscillations by interfering with various ion channels. Thus, this new test system allows multiple types of neuronal signaling, within and between cells, to be assessed, quantified and characterized for their potential disturbance.

Incorporation of stem cell-derived astrocytes into neuronal organoids to allow neuro-glial interactions in toxicological studies.

Human cell-based neural organoids are increasingly being used for investigations of neurotoxicity, and to study the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we present a fast and robust method to generate 3D cultured human dopaminergic neurons (LUHMES) for toxicity testing and long-term culture. Moreover, a plating step was introduced to allow generation of neurite networks with defined 2D orientation and several mm length, while all cell bodies (somata) remained in a 3D, dome-like structure. These cultures, named here 2.5D (for 2.5 dimensional), offer new approaches to quantify toxicant effects on organoids by standard technology and high throughput. For instance, the system reacted to the parkinsonian model toxicants MPP+, rotenone, MG-132 and the ferroptosis-inducer erastin. Moreover, stable incorporation of human stem cell-derived astrocytes or microglia was possible. Added astrocytes stabilized the post mitotic state of the LUHMES neurons and thereby allowed the formation of a stable micro-physiological system. We observed neuroprotection against the proteasome inhibitor MG-132 and the ferroptosis-inducer erastin by such glia. This exemplifies the crucial protective role of astrocytes in neurodegeneration. The modularity of the system was further employed to incorporate microglia together with astrocytes into the organoids. Such ratio-defined, three cell type-based organoids will allow new approaches to study human pathophysiology and toxicology of the nervous system.

Non-invasive marker-independent high content analysis of a microphysiological human pancreas-on-a-chip model.

The increasing prevalence of diabetes, its heterogeneity, and the limited number of treatment options drive the need for physiologically relevant assay platforms with human genetic background that have the potential to improve mechanistic understanding and e\xpedite diabetes-related research and treatment. In this study, we developed an endocrine pancreas-on-a-chip model based on a tailored microfluidic platform, which enables self-guided trapping of single human pseudo-islets. Continuous, low-shear perfusion provides a physiologically relevant microenvironment especially important for modeling and monitoring of the endocrine function as well as sufficient supply with nutrients and oxygen. Human pseudo-islets, generated from the conditionally immortalized EndoC-ßH3 cell line, were successfully injected by hydrostatic pressure-driven flow without altered viability. To track insulin secretion kinetics in response to glucose stimulation in a time-resolved manner, dynamic sampling of the supernatant as well as non-invasive real-time monitoring using Raman microspectroscopy was established on-chip. Dynamic sampling indicated a biphasic glucose-stimulated insulin response. Raman microspectroscopy allowed to trace glucose responsiveness in situ and to visualize different molecular structures such as lipids, mitochondria and nuclei. In-depth spectral analyses demonstrated a glucose stimulation-dependent, increased mitochondrial activity, and a switch in lipid composition of insulin secreting vesicles, supporting the high performance of our pancreas-on-a-chip model.

Comparative characterization of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) derived from patients with schizophrenia and autism.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) provide an attractive tool to study disease mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia. A pertinent problem is the development of hiPSC-based assays to discriminate schizophrenia (SZ) from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) models. Healthy control individuals as well as patients with SZ and ASD were examined by a panel of diagnostic tests. Subsequently, skin biopsies were taken for the generation, differentiation, and testing of hiPSC-derived neurons from all individuals. SZ and ASD neurons share a reduced capacity for cortical differentiation as shown by quantitative analysis of the synaptic marker PSD95 and neurite outgrowth. By contrast, pattern analysis of calcium signals turned out to discriminate among healthy control, schizophrenia, and autism samples. Schizophrenia neurons displayed decreased peak frequency accompanied by increased peak areas, while autism neurons showed a slight decrease in peak amplitudes. For further analysis of the schizophrenia phenotype, transcriptome analyses revealed a clear discrimination among schizophrenia, autism, and healthy controls based on differentially expressed genes. However, considerable differences were still evident among schizophrenia patients under inspection. For one individual with schizophrenia, expression analysis revealed deregulation of genes associated with the major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC class II) presentation pathway. Interestingly, antipsychotic treatment of healthy control neurons also increased MHC class II expression. In conclusion, transcriptome analysis combined with pattern analysis of calcium signals appeared as a tool to discriminate between SZ and ASD phenotypes in vitro.

Assay Procedures for Compound Testing of hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes Using Multiwell Microelectrode Arrays.

The cardiac action potential requires a precise timing of activation and inactivation of ion channel subtypes. Deviations, for example, due to blockage of specific voltage-gated potassium channels, can result in live-threatening arrhythmias. Due to the limitations of standard cellular assays based on cells which artificially express only single ion channel subtypes, many potentially interesting compounds are discarded during drug development. More predictive functional assays are required. With the upcoming of human stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPS-CM) these assays are available, supporting even the design of patient-derived disease models. Microelectrode array systems allow to noninvasively record and evaluate cardiac field action potentials. In this chapter we describe how to cultivate hiPS-CM on two parallelized MEA systems and suggest an experimental strategy for compound tests.

International Multisite Study of Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes for Drug Proarrhythmic Potential Assessment.

To assess the utility of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) as an in vitro proarrhythmia model, we evaluated the concentration dependence and sources of variability of electrophysiologic responses to 28 drugs linked to low, intermediate, and high torsades de pointes (TdP) risk categories using two commercial cell lines and standardized protocols in a blinded multisite study using multielectrode array or voltage-sensing optical approaches. Logistical and ordinal linear regression models were constructed using drug responses as predictors and TdP risk categories as outcomes. Three of seven predictors (drug-induced arrhythmia-like events and prolongation of repolarization at either maximum tested or maximal clinical exposures) categorized drugs with reasonable accuracy (area under the curve values of receiver operator curves ∼0.8). hiPSC-CM line, test site, and platform had minimal influence on drug categorization. These results demonstrate the utility of hiPSC-CMs to detect drug-induced proarrhythmic effects as part of the evolving Comprehensive In Vitro Proarrhythmia Assay paradigm.

Cross-Site Reliability of Human Induced Pluripotent stem cell-derived Cardiomyocyte Based Safety Assays Using Microelectrode Arrays: Results from a Blinded CiPA Pilot Study.

Recent in vitro cardiac safety studies demonstrate the ability of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) to detect electrophysiologic effects of drugs. However, variability contributed by unique approaches, procedures, cell lines, and reagents across laboratories makes comparisons of results difficult, leading to uncertainty about the role of hiPSC-CMs in defining proarrhythmic risk in drug discovery and regulatory submissions. A blinded pilot study was conducted to evaluate the electrophysiologic effects of 8 well-characterized drugs on 4 cardiomyocyte lines using a standardized protocol across 3 microelectrode array platforms (18 individual studies). Drugs were selected to define assay sensitivity of prominent repolarizing currents (E-4031 for IKr, JNJ303 for IKs) and depolarizing currents (nifedipine for ICaL, mexiletine for INa) as well as drugs affecting multichannel block (flecainide, moxifloxacin, quinidine, and ranolazine). Inclusion criteria for final analysis was based on demonstrated sensitivity to IKr block (20% prolongation with E-4031) and L-type calcium current block (20% shortening with nifedipine). Despite differences in baseline characteristics across cardiomyocyte lines, multiple sites, and instrument platforms, 10 of 18 studies demonstrated adequate sensitivity to IKr block with E-4031 and ICaL block with nifedipine for inclusion in the final analysis. Concentration-dependent effects on repolarization were observed with this qualified data set consistent with known ionic mechanisms of single and multichannel blocking drugs. hiPSC-CMs can detect repolarization effects elicited by single and multichannel blocking drugs after defining pharmacologic sensitivity to IKr and ICaL block, supporting further validation efforts using hiPSC-CMs for cardiac safety studies.

Predicting cardiac safety using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes combined with multi-electrode array (MEA) technology: A conference report.

Safety pharmacology studies that evaluate drug candidates for potential cardiovascular liabilities remain a critical component of drug development. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) have recently emerged as a new and promising tool for preclinical hazard identification and risk assessment of drugs. Recently, Pluriomics organized its first User Meeting entitled 'Combining Pluricyte® Cardiomyocytes & MEA for Safety Pharmacology applications', consisting of scientific sessions and live demonstrations, which provided the opportunity to discuss the application of hiPSC-CMs (Pluricyte® Cardiomyocytes) in cardiac safety assessment to support early decision making in safety pharmacology. This report summarizes the outline and outcome of this Pluriomics User Meeting, which took place on November 24-25, 2016 in Leiden (The Netherlands). To reflect the content of the communications presented at this meeting we have cited key scientific articles and reviews.

Correlative Microscopy Combining Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and Electron Microscopy: Comparison of Intensity-Hue-Saturation and Laplacian Pyramid Methods for Image Fusion.

Correlative microscopy combining various imaging modalities offers powerful insights into obtaining a comprehensive understanding of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. In this article, we investigate two approaches for image fusion in the context of combining the inherently lower-resolution chemical images obtained using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) with the high-resolution ultrastructural images obtained using electron microscopy (EM). We evaluate the image fusion methods with three different case studies selected to broadly represent the typical samples in life science research: (i) histology (unlabeled tissue), (ii) nanotoxicology, and (iii) metabolism (isotopically labeled tissue). We show that the intensity-hue-saturation fusion method often applied for EM-sharpening can result in serious image artifacts, especially in cases where different contrast mechanisms interplay. Here, we introduce and demonstrate Laplacian pyramid fusion as a powerful and more robust alternative method for image fusion. Both physical and technical aspects of correlative image overlay and image fusion specific to SIMS-based correlative microscopy are discussed in detail alongside the advantages, limitations, and the potential artifacts. Quantitative metrics to evaluate the results of image fusion are also discussed.

Steps toward Maturation of Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes by Defined Physical Signals.

Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (ESC-CMs) may offer significant advances in creating in vitro cardiac tissues for disease modeling, drug testing, and elucidating developmental processes; however, the induction of ESCs to a more adult-like CM phenotype remains challenging. In this study, we developed a bioreactor system to employ pulsatile flow (1.48 mL/min), cyclic strain (5%), and extended culture time to improve the maturation of murine and human ESC-CMs. Dynamically-cultured ESC-CMs showed an increased expression of cardiac-associated proteins and genes, cardiac ion channel genes, as well as increased SERCA activity and a Raman fingerprint with the presence of maturation-associated peaks similar to primary CMs. We present a bioreactor platform that can serve as a foundation for the development of human-based cardiac in vitro models to verify drug candidates, and facilitates the study of cardiovascular development and disease.

Influence of field potential duration on spontaneous beating rate of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes: Implications for data analysis and test system selection.

INTRODUCTION: Field potential duration in human pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes is discussed as parameter for the assessment of drug-induced delayed repolarization. In spontaneously beating hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes field potential duration varies depending on beating rate but beating rate can also be influenced by field potential duration. This interdependence is not fully understood and therefore mandates careful data analysis and cautious interpretation of the results. METHODS: We analysed data from several types of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and, for comparison, primary embryonic chick cardiomyocytes using reference compounds to study the relationship between spontaneous rate and field potential duration. Based on such data we developed a method based on a regression model of drug-induced changes in the inter-beat interval versus changes in the field potential duration to distinguish primary rate from repolarisation effects. RESULTS: We demonstrate the application of this approach with reference and research compounds. Cells from different sources differed with regard to the direct or indirect effects of reference compounds on spontaneous beating. All cell types showed an adaptation of field potential duration upon rate changes induced by reference compounds, however, the adaptation of the spontaneous rate after compound-induced changes in field potential duration varied considerably between cell types. DISCUSSION: As shown by comparison with data from guinea pig papillary muscle, an ex vivo model with a fixed stimulation rate, this approach is more appropriate than the application of correction algorithms routinely used for in vivo data since such algorithms do not account for a dependence of rate on field potential duration.