This work was supported by funding from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, to Dr. Onur Kanisicak; a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01HL148598) to Dr. Onur Kanisicak.&#160;Dr. Onur Kanisicak is supported by the American Heart Association Career Development Award (18CDA34110117). Dr. Perwez Alam is supported by the American Heart Association postdoctoral grant (AHA_20POST35200267). Dr Malina J. Ivey is supported by an NIH T32 grant (HL 125204-06A1).

All experiments should be performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH). All protocols displayed in the video were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine.
1. Preparation before heart extraction from adult mice (and rats)
<ol>
	<li>Prepare the corresponding perfusion, enzyme, and stop solutions, according to the recipes given in Table 1 and Table 2, for rat and mouse isolation, respectively. Filter the solutions through a 0.22 &#181;m filter to remove any contamination or undissolved particles.</li>
	<li>Clean and sterilize the surgical instruments by soaking them in 70% alcohol for 15 min, and subsequently wash with double distilled water. Leave the tools to air dry on a clean paper towel.</li>
	<li>Pre-heat the water bath to 37 &#186;C. Check the water level in the water bath to ensure an uninterrupted circulation of warm water through the perfusion apparatus during the procedure.</li>
	<li>Clean the perfusion apparatus by running with 70% alcohol for 5 min. Repeat. 
	NOTE: Increase the flow rate, which helps to clean the tubing.</li>
	<li>After the alcohol flowthrough, clean the remnants of alcohol by running double distilled water for 10 min.</li>
	<li>Set up 3 medium-size disposable polystyrene weighing dishes to clean the heart after excision. Fill the dishes with 20 mL of myocyte buffer.</li>
	<li>Add 2-3 drops of heparin to each dish with the help of Pasteur pipette and mix well by pipetting multiple times.</li>
	<li>Take a 10 mL syringe with a blunt needle cannula. 
	NOTE: A blunt needle cannula can be prepared by cutting the tip of a clean, sterile needle. A 21 G needle and 14 G needle were used to make the cannula for the mouse and rat, respectively.</li>
	<li>Fill the syringe with perfusion buffer (Table 1). Remove any air bubbles from the syringe and place it in the third dish at an angled position. Secure it with tape. 
	NOTE: For rats, Solution A (Table 2) was used instead of myocyte perfusion buffer.</li>
	<li>Prepare a loose knot with a surgical suture and place it around the needle.</li>
	<li>Inject the mouse with heparin (100 USP units/mouse) by intraperitoneal injection, 20 min before the anesthesia injection.</li>
	<li>Circulate the myocyte perfusion buffer (Table 1) through the perfusion apparatus. Decrease the flow rate to 3 mL/min. 
	NOTE: For rats, Solution A (Table 2) was used instead of myocyte perfusion buffer.</li>
	<li>After 5 min, replace the perfusion buffer with the enzyme solution (Table 1). Saturate the enzyme solution with oxygen during the process. Use a flow rate of 3 mL/min. 
	NOTE: For rat CM isolation, use solution E (Table 2) instead.</li>
	<li>Anesthetize the mouse by intraperitoneal injection of anesthesia. Use the appropriate dose of anesthesia, recommended by IACUC, for the terminal surgery.</li>
	<li>Confirm sufficient depth of anesthesia by the lack of a response to a toe pinch. Then, put the mouse on the surgical platform.</li>
</ol>
2. Extraction of heart from adult mice (and rats)
<ol>
	<li>Sterilize the skin by wiping with 70% alcohol.</li>
	<li>Carefully open the chest.</li>
	<li>Excise the heart. Avoid non-heart tissues during excision.</li>
	<li>Put the heart on the first dish, filled with perfusion buffer (Table 1). 
	NOTE: Use solution A for the rat (Table 2).</li>
	<li>Clear the blood from the heart by gently squeezing.</li>
	<li>Transfer the heart to the second dish.</li>
	<li>Clean the blood from the heart and remove non-cardiac tissues. Subsequently, transfer the heart to the third dish.</li>
	<li>Trim off lungs and other surrounding tissue and cannulate via the ascending aorta. This procedure should be performed as rapidly as possible (&#60;5 min) to improve CM quality and quantity.</li>
</ol>
3. Digestion of the heart
<ol>
	<li>Digestion of the mouse heart 
	NOTE: All the solutions/buffers which circulate through the mouse heart should be oxygenated throughout the procedure.
	<ol>
		<li>Carefully remove the cannulating needle from the syringe and connect it to the Langendorff perfusion apparatus.</li>
		<li>Avoid any air bubbles going into the heart, which may affect the flow-through of the enzyme solution and digestion.</li>
		<li>Move the water jacket up to provide a homogenous environment to the heart. Allow the enzyme solution to flow through the heart at a speed of 2-3 mL/min. 
		NOTE: The speed of the passing solution is critical and has a significant impact on the outcome of CM quantity and quality.</li>
		<li>Let the enzyme solution flow through the heart for 2 min.</li>
		<li>At 2 min, add 40 &#181;L of 100 &#181;M CaCl2 solution to the enzyme solution and mix. Let the enzyme solution pass through the heart for another 10-15 min. 
		NOTE: Once the flow becomes smooth, the heart becomes brownish and soft, indicating the even distribution of the collagenase enzyme and proper digestion of heart.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Digestion of the rat heart 
	NOTE: All the solutions/buffers which circulate through the rat heart should be oxygenated throughout the procedure.
	<ol>
		<li>Carefully remove the cannulating needle from the syringe and connect it to the Langendorff perfusion apparatus.</li>
		<li>Avoid any air bubbles going into the heart, which may affect the flow-through of the enzyme solution and digestion.</li>
		<li>Move the water jacket up to provide a homogenous environment to the heart.</li>
		<li>Start the flow of solution A at a speed of 2-3 mL/min for 3-5 min to remove any blood from the heart. 
		NOTE: The speed of the passing solution is critical and has a significant impact on the outcome of CM quality.</li>
		<li>Once the blood is cleared from the heart, switch from solution A to solution E (Table 2). Titrate solution E with CaCl2 as indicated below for a final concentration of 0.1 mM in solution:
		<ol>
			<li>After 10 min of perfusion, add 12.5 &#181;L of 0.1 M CaCl2.</li>
			<li>After 15 min of perfusion, add 25 &#181;L of 0.1 M CaCl2.</li>
		</ol>
		</li>
		<li>Let the enzyme solution pass through the heart for another 30-40 min, until the flow becomes rapid and the heart is pliable.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
4. Preparation of CM single-cell suspension
<ol>
	<li>Preparation of the CM single-cell suspension (mouse)
	<ol>
		<li>Remove the heart from the Langendorff perfusion system. Move it to a 60 mm Petri dish filled with 5 mL of enzyme solution and transfer the dish to a biosafety hood. 
		NOTE: Ensure sufficient heart digestion before removing the heart from the Langendorff perfusion system. The digestion time depends on the enzyme activity, the flow of solution, and the size of the heart.</li>
		<li>Perform any further mechanical disaggregation in a biosafety hood to ensure sterility and avoid contamination.</li>
		<li>Carefully remove the atria (1/4th of the basal heart portion) and extra fat tissues.</li>
		<li>Mince the heart with forceps into fine pieces.</li>
		<li>Take a sterile Pasteur pipette and cut its tip at a 45&#186; angle.</li>
		<li>Use this Pasteur pipette to dispense the heart tissue in a single-cell suspension by gentle pipetting. Optimal digestion provides a suspension of single-cell cardiomyocytes. 
		NOTE: Remove the narrow, bottom portion of the transfer pipet to reduce CM damage due to mechanical searing.</li>
		<li>Then, add 5 mL of stop solution to stop the enzyme activity, which avoids the possibility of overdigestion.</li>
		<li>Take a fresh 50 mL conical and place a sterile 100 &#181;m cell strainer on it.</li>
		<li>Pass the cardiomyocyte suspension through the cell strainer to remove the tissue chunk. Wash the Petri dish and strainer with another 5 mL of stop solution (Table 1) to collect any cardiomyocytes that remain attached to the strainer.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Preparation of the CM single-cell suspension (rat)
	<ol>
		<li>Remove the heart from the Langendorff perfusion system. Move the heart to a 100 mm Petri dish filled with 5 mL of solution A and move the dish to a biosafety hood. 
		NOTE: Ensure sufficient heart digestion before removing the heart from the Langendorff perfusion system. The digestion time depends on the enzyme activity, the flow of solution, and the size of heart.</li>
		<li>Perform any further mechanical disaggregation in a biosafety hood to ensure sterility and avoid contamination.</li>
		<li>Carefully remove the atria (1/4th of the basal heart portion) and extra fat tissues.</li>
		<li>Mince the heart with forceps into fine pieces.</li>
		<li>Take a sterile Pasteur pipette and cut its tip at a 45&#186; angle.</li>
		<li>Use this Pasteur pipette to dispense the heart tissue in single-cell suspension by gentle pipetting. Optimal digestion provides a suspension of single-cell cardiomyocytes. 
		NOTE: Remove the narrow, bottom portion of the transfer pipet to reduce CM damage due to mechanical searing.</li>
		<li>Add 5 mL of solution B (Table 2) to the CM suspension and pass the solution through a 100 &#181;m cell strainer to remove any remaining pieces of fat or other non-digested tissue.</li>
		<li>Collect filtrate in a fresh 50 mL conical vial.</li>
		<li>Use another 5 mL of solution B to wash the Petri dish and any remaining CM through the cell strainer.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
5. Removal of non-CMs
<ol>
	<li>Removal of non-CMs from the adult single-cell suspension (mouse)
	<ol>
		<li>Centrifuge the cell suspension at 20 x g for 3 min.</li>
		<li>Discard the supernatant and resuspend the cells in 10 mL of stop solution (Table 1). 
		NOTE: Increasing the concentration of BSA in the stop solution will increase its viscosity and reduce the sedimentation rate of non-CMs.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the CMs by gentle inversion of the tube 3-5 times.</li>
		<li>At 3 min intervals, add 10 &#181;L of 100 &#181;M CaCl2 solution and mix. Repeat thrice.</li>
		<li>After the fourth addition, centrifuge the cardiomyocyte suspension at 20 x g for 3 min.</li>
		<li>Discard the supernatant.</li>
		<li>Resuspend CMs in pre-warmed (37 &#186;C), adult mouse CM plating media (Table 3).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Removal of non-CMs from the adult single-cell suspensions (rat)
	<ol>
		<li>Pellet cells at 20 x g for 3 min at 25 &#186;C.</li>
		<li>Discard the supernatant and resuspend the cells into 25 mL of solution B (Table 2).</li>
		<li>Mix the cells by gentle inversion and place it in a tube stand to allow the CM to settle under gravity.</li>
		<li>Carefully discard the supernatant.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the cells in fresh 25 mL of solution B and titrate it to 1.0 mM CaCl2 by stepwise addition of 50 &#181;L, 75 &#181;L, and 100 &#181;L of 0.1 M CaCl2 at 3-5 min intervals. 
		NOTE: A higher concentration of BSA in solution B could be used at this step. Increasing the concentration of BSA in solution B increases the viscosity and thus, reduces the sedimentation rate of non-CMs.</li>
		<li>Pellet cells at 20 x g for 3 min at 25 &#186;C, aspirate the supernatant, and add the desired volume of adult rat cell culture media (Table 4).</li>
		<li>Seed CMs on a laminin coated plate. 
		NOTE: Pre-plating of CMs on a non-coated culture plate can be used to minimize the contamination of non-CM cells.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
6. Adult CM plating
<ol>
	<li>Pre-plating
	<ol>
		<li>Resuspend the cardiomyocytes into culture media.</li>
		<li>Pre-plate the cells into a 60 mm or 100 mm dish for mouse or rat CM, respectively.</li>
		<li>Incubate CMs for 2 h in an incubator supplemented with 5% CO2 at 37 &#186;C.</li>
		<li>During the pre-plate incubation, coat the cell culture plates with laminin (10 &#181;g/mL in PBS) for long term CM culture.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>After 2 h of pre-plating, collect CMs in a 50 mL conical vial.</li>
	<li>Collect the cells from the dish and re-plate them into a laminin coated 24 well culture plate for transfection experiments.</li>
	<li>Culture cells in an incubator at 37 &#186;C supplemented with 5% with CO2. 4-6 hours is sufficient to adhere to the cardiomyocytes with the surface, and thus, transfection can be performed 6 hours post-plating. 
	NOTE: The plating medium containing FBS is commonly used and shows better compatibility with proliferation studies. However, a serum-free medium can be used for experiments where secretory factors are being analyzed.</li>
</ol>
7. Transfection
<ol>
	<li>Incubate the CMs to the cell culture plates coated with laminin for 4-6 hours.</li>
	<li>Four hours after CM seeding on the laminin coated plate, transfect cells with siRNAs (50 nM) of interest using a transfection reagent (e.g., Lipofectamine RNAiMAX) according to the manufacturer&#8217;s protocol.</li>
	<li>Change media 24 hours following transfection and every 24 hours after that for up to 20 days.</li>
	<li>After 20 days, fix cells with 4% PFA in PBS for downstream applications, including immunocytochemistry for cardiac-specific markers such as Troponin to ensure live cardiomyocytes were successfully cultured long-term.</li>
</ol>

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There is a critical need to establish a protocol for adult cardiomyocyte isolation and long-term culture to perform cell-specific mechanistic studies. There are only a few reports discussing adult CM isolation protocols, and even fewer of them are used for long-term culture of adult mice CM15,16,17. It is been shown that the adult rat CM has a higher tolerance to in vitro culture than the adult mice CM10<...

Cardiac diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Almost all types of cardiac injury result in a significant loss of adult cardiomyocytes (CMs). Adult mammalian hearts are unable to repair their cardiac injury due to the senescent nature of the adult CM1. Thus, any insult to the adult mammalian heart results in a permanent loss of CMs, leading to reduced cardiac function and heart failure. Unlike adult mammals, small animals like zebrafish and newt hearts can regenerate their cardiac injury through existing CM proliferation2,3,4. A worldwide effort is ongoing to find a novel therapeutic intervention for cardiac injury via both proliferative and non-proliferative approaches. In past decades, various types of genetic mouse models have been developed to study cardiac injury and repair. However, using in vivo animal models continues to be an expensive approach with the additional complexity to decipher a cell-autonomous mechanism from secondary effects. Besides, in vivo systems are challenging to analyze CM specific effects of a pharmacological intervention that induces cardioprotective signaling from the CM.
Moreover, the long-term culture of adult CMs is necessary to perform CM proliferation analyses. CM proliferation assays require a minimum of 4-5 days for cells to be induced into the cell cycle and to obtain accurate data after that. Additionally, studies that utilize isolated CMs for electrophysiological studies, drug screening, toxicity studies, and Ca++ homeostasis studies are all in need of an improved culture system5,6,7. Furthermore, recent studies show the cardioprotective significance of cytokines secreted from CMs (cardiokines)8,9. In order to investigate the therapeutic role and molecular mechanism of these cardiokines during heart repair and regeneration, a prolonged culture is required.
Adult rat CMs are robust enough for single-cell isolation and long-term culture in an in vitro system10,11,12. However, adult mouse CMs are of great interest for in vitro assays, due to the availability of a variety of genetically modified mouse models, which allows for the design and execution of various innovative analyses that are not possible with rat CM13. In contrast to adult rat CM isolation, it is quite challenging to obtain a single-cell suspension from adult mouse hearts, and the long-term culture of adult mouse CMs in culture is even more challenging.
Adult CM isolation from mouse and rat hearts using a Langendorff system has previously been established to study CM function5,14,15. Here, we have described in detail the protocols for adult CM isolation from both rats and mice, as well as a modified long-term culture, transfection, and CM proliferation of isolated cells.

<table><tbody><tr><td>2,3-Butane Dione monoxime</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>B-0753</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Blebbistatin</td><td>APExBIO</td><td>B1387</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bovine serum albumin</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>A3059</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>CaCl&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>449709</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cell culture plate</td><td>Corning Costar</td><td>3526</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cell strainer</td><td>BD Biosciences</td><td>352360</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cel-miR-67</td><td>Dharmacon</td><td>CN-001000-01-50</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Collagenase type2</td><td>Worthington</td><td>LS004177</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Disposable Graduated Transfer Pipettes</td><td>Fisherbrand</td><td>13-711-20</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Disposable polystyrene weighing dishes</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>Z154881-500EA</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Dulbecco&#039;s Modified Eagle&#039;s medium</td><td>Thermo Scientific</td><td>SH30022.01</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>EdU</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>C10337</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fetal bovine serum</td><td>Corning</td><td>35-015-CV</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fine Point High Precision Forceps</td><td>Fisherbrand</td><td>22-327379</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Glucose</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>G-5400</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Hemocytometer</td><td>Hausser Scientific</td><td>1483</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Heparin</td><td>Sagent Pharmaceuticals</td><td>PSLAB-018285-02</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>HEPES</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>H3375</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>High Precision Straight Broad Strong Point Tweezers/Forceps</td><td>Fisherbrand</td><td>12-000-128</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Hyaluronidase</td><td>Sigma</td><td>H3506</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Insulin</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>I0516-5ML</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>K&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;HPO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>P-8281</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>KCl</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>746436</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Light Microscope</td><td>Nikon</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lipofectamine RNAiMAX</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>13778-150</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>MgSO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>M-2643</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>NaCl</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>S9888</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>NaOH</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>S318-500</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Natural Mouse Laminin</td><td>Invitrogen</td><td>23017-015</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Penicillin/Streptomycin</td><td>Corning</td><td>30-002-CI</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Pentobarbital</td><td>Henry Schein</td><td>24352</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Phosphate buffered saline</td><td>Life Technologies</td><td>20012-027</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Protease XIV</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>P5147-1G</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Selenium</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>229865+5G</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>siMeis2</td><td>Dharmacon</td><td>s161030</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>siRb1</td><td>Dharmacon</td><td>s128325</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Straight Blunt/SharpDissecting Scissors</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>28252</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Straight Very Fine Precision Tip Forceps</td><td>Fisherbrand</td><td>16-100-120</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Taurine</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>T0625</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Transferrin</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>T8158-100MG</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ultra-smooth, beveled-edge finish scissor</td><td>Fisherbrand</td><td>22-079-747</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Water Bath</td><td>Fisher Scientific</td><td>3006S</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

isolation, transfection, and long-term culture of adult mouse and rat cardiomyocytes

Ex vivo culture of the adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) presents the most relevant experimental system for the in vitro study of cardiac biology. Adult mammalian CMs are terminally differentiated cells with minimal proliferative capacity. The post-mitotic state of adult CMs not only restricts cardiomyocyte cell cycle progression but also limits the efficient culture of CMs. Moreover, the long-term culture of adult CMs is necessary for many studies, such as CM proliferation and analysis of gene expression.
The mouse and the rat are the two most preferred laboratory animals to be used for cardiomyocyte isolation. While the long-term culture of rat CMs is possible, adult mouse CMs are susceptible to death and cannot be cultured more than five days under normal conditions. Therefore, there is a critical need to optimize the cell isolation and long-term culture protocol for adult murine CMs. With this modified protocol, it is possible to successfully isolate and culture both adult mouse and rat CMs for more than 20 days. Moreover, the siRNA transfection efficiency of isolated CM is significantly increased compared to previous reports. For adult mouse CM isolation, the Langendorff perfusion method is utilized with an optimal enzyme solution and sufficient time for complete extracellular matrix dissociation. In order to obtain pure ventricular CMs, both atria were dissected and discarded before proceeding with the disassociation and plating. Cells were dispersed on a laminin coated plate, which allowed for efficient and rapid attachment. CMs were allowed to settle for 4-6 h before siRNA transfection. Culture media was refreshed every 24 h for 20 days, and subsequently, CMs were fixed and stained for cardiac-specific markers such as Troponin and markers of cell cycle such as KI67.

The current modified protocol allows efficient isolation and culture of rat and mice CMs in vitro. For rat CM isolation, a total of 3 adult (12-week-old) male Fischer 344 rats were used in the procedure. Figure 1 shows the surgical apparatus and isolation setups that are required in the procedure; each part has been marked and described in the figure legend. Collagenase type 2 was used for digestion, which yields a high quantity of high quality CMs from successful isolation (<strong class="x...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes at JoVE.com

Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes

Here, we present a protocol for the isolation, transfection, and long-term culture of adult mouse and rat cardiomyocytes.

Ex vivo culture of the adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) presents the most relevant experimental system for the in vitro study of cardiac biology. ...

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Biology

9.1K Views.  University of Cincinnati. Het doel van deze video is om een gestandaardiseerd protocol aan te tonen voor volwassen cardiomyocyten isolatie, cultuur op lange termijn en transfectie. Het isoleren en culteren van cardiomyocyten van muis of rat blijft een essentiële methode om de cel autonome biologie van cardiomyocyten binnen het gezonde en ziektehart te onderzoeken. Er zijn verschillende vragen die we kunnen beantwoorden met behulp van geïsoleerde cardiomyocyten.Zoals het proliferative potentieel. Er zijn genex...

Video: Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes

Primary Culture of Adult Rat Heart Myocytes

Cultured primary adult rodent heart cells are an important model system for cardiovascular research. Nevertheless, establishment of robust, viable cultured adult myocytes can be a technically challenging, rate-limiting step for many researchers. Here we described a protocol to obtain a high yield of adult rat heart myocytes that remain viable in culture for several days. The heart is isolated and perfused with collagenase and protease under low Ca2+ conditions to recover single myocytes. Ca2+-tolerant cells are obtained by stepwise increases in extracellular Ca2+ concentration in three subsequent wash steps. Cells are filtered, resuspended in culture medium, and plated on laminin coated slips. Cultured myocytes obtained using this protocol are viable for up to four days and are suitable for most experiments including electrophysiology, biochemistry, imaging and molecular biology.

In this paper, we described a typical way to isolate and culture adult rat heart myocytes. Collagenase and protease are used to digest and isolate single myocytes. Myocytes cultured follow this protocol meet most experiment requirements.

Cultured primary adult rodent heart cells are an important model system for cardiovascular research.  Nevertheless, establishment of robust, viable ...

Isolation and Genetic Manipulation of Adult Cardiac Myocytes for Confocal Imaging

Cardiac myocytes isolated from adult hearts are widely accepted as a model somewhere half way between embryonic and neonatal muscle cells on one side and a working heart on the other. Thus, cardiomyocytes serve as good models for cardiac cellular physiology and pathophysiology, for pharmaceutical investigations as well as for the exploration of transgenic animal models. Here we describe a method of isolating the cells from the heart. Furthermore we show how a genetic manipulation on cardiac myocytes can be performed without breeding a transgenic animal: This is the combination of long term culture (1 week) and adenoviral gene transfer. The latter one is described from the construction of the virus to the transduction of the cells. It can be used for the expression of genetically encoded biosensors (GEBs), fluorescent fusion proteins, but also for protein over expression and down regulation, e.g. using RNAi. Here we provide an example for the expression of a fusion protein staining a subcellular structure (Golgi). Such protein expression can be visualized by confocal imaging of z-stacks for a 3D-reconstruction of subcellular structures. The protocol comprises state-of-the-art in cell culture, molecular biology and biophysics and thus provides an approach for exploring new horizons in cellular cardiology.

Adult cardiac myocytes are primary cells that can be isolated from animal hearts and cultured for several days. Within this culture period adenoviral gene transfer can be used to express genetically encoded biosensors (GEBs) or fluorescent fusion proteins. Both approaches allow cellular investigations by means of confocal microscopy.

Cardiac myocytes isolated from adult hearts are widely accepted as a model somewhere half way between embryonic and neonatal muscle cells on one side and ...

Isolation and Cultivation of Adult Rat Cardiomyocytes

In an intact heart, adjacent cells influence adult cardiomyocytes. With the method of isolation and cultivation of adult cardiomyocytes, a precise investigation of the behavior of these cells under specific treatments and environments is possible. This manuscript presents a protocol for successful isolation and cultivation of adult rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (ARVC).
The rat is sacrificed by cervical dislocation under deep anesthesia. Then, the heart is extracted and the aorta is uncovered. Subsequently, perfusion on the Langendorff perfusion system with calcium depletion and collagenase treatment is performed. Afterwards, ventricular tissue gets minced, re-circulated, and filtered, followed by three centrifugation steps with gradual addition of CaCl2 until physiological calcium concentration is reached. ARVC are plated on cell culture dishes. After refreshing the cell culture medium, ARVC can be cultivated for up to six days without changing the serum-containing culture medium. Isolation of ARVC is a calcium sensitive process. Small changes in the intracellular calcium concentration cause a decrease in the quality and viability of the isolated cells.
Freshly isolated ARVC are rod shaped. Within the first days of cultivation they lose the rod-shaped morphology and form pseudopodia-like structures (spreading). During this morphological formation ARVC initially degrade their contractile elements followed by a reformation through actin stress fibers and de novo sarcomerogenesis. After one week of cultivation, most ARVC show a widespread appearance with a clearly detectable cross striation. This process is sensitive to intracellular calcium concentration, as treatment with ionomycin attenuates spreading. Key markers in this process of de- and re-differentiation are &#946;-myosin heavy chain (&#946;-MHC), oncostatin M (OSM), and swiprosin-1 (EFHD2). Recent studies have suggested that cardiac re- and de-differentiation occurring under culture conditions mimics features seen in vivo during cardiac remodeling. Therefore, isolation and cultivation of ARVC play a key role in understanding the biology of cardiomyocytes.

Here, we present a protocol for the isolation and cultivation of adult rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (ARVC). Isolated ARVC can be used for short and long-term cultivation. The isolation and cultivation of ARVC can play a key role in developing new treatment regimens for cardiac diseases.

In an intact heart, adjacent cells influence adult cardiomyocytes. With the method of isolation and cultivation of adult cardiomyocytes, a precise ...

Medicine

Isolation and Culture of Neonatal Mouse Cardiomyocytes

Cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes have long been used to study myofibrillogenesis and myofibrillar functions. Cultured cardiomyocytes allow for easy investigation and manipulation of biochemical pathways, and their effect on the biomechanical properties of spontaneously beating cardiomyocytes.	
The following 2-day protocol describes the isolation and culture of neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes. We show how to easily dissect hearts from neonates, dissociate the cardiac tissue and enrich cardiomyocytes from the cardiac cell-population. We discuss the usage of different enzyme mixes for cell-dissociation, and their effects on cell-viability. The isolated cardiomyocytes can be subsequently used for a variety of morphological, electrophysiological, biochemical, cell-biological or biomechanical assays. We optimized the protocol for robustness and reproducibility, by using only commercially available solutions and enzyme mixes that show little lot-to-lot variability. We also address common problems associated with the isolation and culture of cardiomyocytes, and offer a variety of options for the optimization of isolation and culture conditions.

Primary mouse cardiomyocyte cultures are one of the pivotal tools for the investigation of myofibrillar organization and function. The following protocol describes the isolation and culture of primary cardiomyocytes from neonatal mouse hearts. The resulting cardiomyocyte cultures may be subsequently used for a variety of biomechanical, biochemical and cell-biological assays.

Cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes have long been used to study  myofibrillogenesis and myofibrillar functions. Cultured cardiomyocytes allow  for easy ...

Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Adult Mouse Cardiomyoctyes

The use of primary cardiomyocytes (CMs) in culture has provided a powerful complement to murine models of heart disease in advancing our understanding of heart disease. In particular, the ability to study ion homeostasis, ion channel function, cellular excitability and excitation-contraction coupling and their alterations in diseased conditions and by disease-causing mutations have led to significant insights into cardiac diseases. Furthermore, the lack of an adequate immortalized cell line to mimic adult CMs, and the limitations of neonatal CMs (which lack many of the structural and functional biomechanics characteristic of adult CMs) in culture have hampered our understanding of the complex interplay between signaling pathways, ion channels and contractile properties in the adult heart strengthening the importance of studying adult isolated cardiomyocytes. Here, we present methods for the isolation, culture, manipulation of gene expression by adenoviral-expressed proteins, and subsequent functional analysis of cardiomyocytes from the adult mouse. The use of these techniques will help to develop mechanistic insight into signaling pathways that regulate cellular excitability, Ca2+ dynamics and contractility and provide a much more physiologically relevant characterization of cardiovascular disease.

Here we describe the isolation of adult mouse cardiomyoctyes using a Langendorff perfusion system. The resulting cells are Ca2+-tolerant, electrically quiescent and can be cultured and transfected with adeno- or lentiviruses to manipulate gene expression. Their functionality can also be analyzed using the MMSYS system and patch clamp techniques.

The use of primary cardiomyocytes (CMs) in culture has provided a powerful complement to murine models of heart disease in advancing our understanding of ...

Isolation and Culture of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes for Cell Signaling and in vitro Cardiac Hypertrophy

Technological advances have made genetically modified mice, including transgenic and gene knockout mice, an essential tool in many research fields. Adult cardiomyocytes are widely accepted as a good model for cardiac cellular physiology and pathophysiology, as well as for pharmaceutical intervention. Genetically modified mice preclude the need for complicated cardiomyocyte infection processes to generate the desired genotype, which are inefficient due to cardiomyocytes&#8217; terminal differentiation. Isolation and culture of high quantity and quality functional cardiomyocytes will dramatically benefit cardiovascular research and provide an important tool for cell signaling transduction research and drug development. Here, we describe a well-established method for isolation of adult mouse cardiomyocytes that can be implemented with little training. The mouse heart is excised and cannulated to an isolated heart system, then perfused with a calcium-free and high potassium buffer followed by type II collagenase digestion in Langendorff retrograde perfusion mode. This protocol yields a consistent result for the collection of functional adult mouse cardiomyocytes from a variety of genetically modified mice.

Isolation and Culture of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes for Cell Signaling and in vitro Cardiac Hypertrophy

We describe a reliable method for isolation of adult mouse cardiomyocytes. This protocol yields a consistent result for the culture of functional adult cardiomyocytes from a variety of genetically modified mice.

Technological advances have made genetically modified mice, including transgenic and gene knockout mice, an essential tool in many research fields. Adult ...

Isolation, Culture and Transduction of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes

Cultured cardiomyocytes can be used to study cardiomyocyte biology using techniques that are complementary to in vivo systems. For example, the purity and accessibility of in vitro culture enables fine control over biochemical analyses, live imaging, and electrophysiology. Long-term culture of cardiomyocytes offers access to additional experimental approaches that cannot be completed in short term cultures. For example, the in vitro investigation of dedifferentiation, cell cycle re-entry, and cell division has thus far largely been restricted to rat cardiomyocytes, which appear to be more robust in long-term culture. However, the availability of a rich toolset of transgenic mouse lines and well-developed disease models make mouse systems attractive for cardiac research. Although several reports exist of adult mouse cardiomyocyte isolation, few studies demonstrate their long-term culture. Presented here, is a step-by-step method for the isolation and long-term culture of adult mouse cardiomyocytes. First, retrograde Langendorff perfusion is used to efficiently digest the heart with proteases, followed by gravity sedimentation purification. After a period of dedifferentiation following isolation, the cells gradually attach to the culture and can be cultured for weeks. Adenovirus cell lysate is used to efficiently transduce the isolated cardiomyocytes. These methods provide a simple, yet powerful model system to study cardiac biology.

This protocol describes a step-by-step method for the reproducible isolation and long-term culture of adult mouse cardiomyocytes with high yield, purity, and viability.

Cultured cardiomyocytes can be used to study cardiomyocyte biology using techniques that are complementary to in vivo systems. For example, the purity and ...

A Simple and Effective Method to Consistently Isolate Mouse Cardiomyocytes

The need for reproducible yet technically simple methods yielding high-quality cardiomyocytes is essential for research in cardiac biology. Cellular and molecular functional experiments (e.g., contraction, electrophysiology, calcium cycling, etc.) on cardiomyocytes are the gold standard for establishing mechanism(s) of disease. The mouse is the species of choice for functional experiments and the described technique is specifically for the isolation of mouse cardiomyocytes. Previous methods requiring a Langendorff apparatus require high levels of training and precision for aortic cannulation, often resulting in ischemia. The field is shifting toward Langendorff-free isolation methods that are simple, are reproducible, and yield viable myocytes for physiological data acquisition and culture. These methods greatly diminish ischemia time compared to aortic cannulation and result in reliably obtained cardiomyocytes. Our adaptation to the Langendorff-free method includes an initial perfusion with ice-cold clearing solution, use of a stabilizing platform that ensures a steady needle during perfusion, and additional digestion steps to ensure reliably obtained cardiomyocytes for use in functional measurements and culture. This method is simple and quick to perform and requires little technical skill.

The gold standard in cardiology for cellular and molecular functional experiments are cardiomyocytes. This article describes adaptations to the non-Langendorff technique to isolate mouse cardiomyocytes.

The need for reproducible yet technically simple methods yielding high-quality cardiomyocytes is essential for research in cardiac biology. Cellular and ...

Simultaneous Isolation of High Quality Cardiomyocytes, Endothelial Cells, and Fibroblasts from an Adult Rat Heart

The rat is an important animal model used in cardiovascular research, and rat cardiac cells are used routinely for in vitro analysis of the molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular disease progression such as cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and atherosclerosis. Although several attempts with variable success have been made to develop immortalized cell lines from the cardiovascular system to understand these cellular mechanisms, primary cells offer a more natural and close to in vivo environment for such studies. Therefore, different laboratories working on a particular cell type have developed protocols to isolate individual types of rat cardiac cells of interest. A protocol that allows the isolation of more than one cell type, however, is missing. Here an optimized protocol is described that allows the isolation of high-quality major cardiac cell types (cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts) from a single preparation and enables their use for cellular analyses. This permits the most efficient use of available resources, which may save time and reduce research costs.

Several protocols have been developed and described for the isolation of different cardiac cell types from a rat heart. Here, an optimized protocol is described that allows the isolation of high-quality major cardiac cell types (cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts) from a single preparation, reducing the experimental costs.

The rat is an important animal model used in cardiovascular research, and rat cardiac cells are used routinely for in vitro analysis of the molecular ...

Simultaneous Isolation and Culture of Atrial Myocytes, Ventricular Myocytes, and Non-Myocytes from an Adult Mouse Heart

The isolation and culturing of cardiac myocytes from mice has been essential for furthering the understanding of cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. While isolating myocytes from neonatal mouse hearts is relatively straightforward, myocytes from the adult murine heart are preferred. This is because compared to neonatal cells, adult myocytes more accurately recapitulate cell function as it occurs in the adult heart in vivo. However, it is technically difficult to isolate adult mouse cardiac myocytes in the necessary quantities and viability, which contributes to an experimental impasse. Furthermore, published procedures are specific for the isolation of either atrial or ventricular myocytes at the expense of atrial and ventricular non-myocyte cells. Described here is a detailed method for isolating both atrial and ventricular cardiac myocytes, along with atrial and ventricular non-myocytes, simultaneously from a single mouse heart. Also provided are the details for optimal cell-specific culturing methods, which enhance cell viability and function. This protocol aims not only to expedite the process of adult murine cardiac cell isolation, but also to increase the yield and viability of cells for investigations of atrial and ventricular cardiac cells.

A method is described for the simultaneous isolation of myocytes and non-myocytes from both the atria and ventricles of a single adult mouse heart. This protocol results in consistent yields of highly viable cardiac myocytes and non-myocytes and details optimal cell-specific culture conditions for phenotyping and in vitro analysis.

The isolation and culturing of cardiac myocytes from mice has been essential for furthering the understanding of cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. ...

Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes

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