Sarcomere Shortening of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes using Fluorescent-Tagged Sarcomere Proteins.

Summary

This method can be used to examine sarcomere shortening using pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes with fluorescent-tagged sarcomere proteins.

Abstract

Pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (PSC-CMs) can be produced from both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem (ES/iPS) cells. These cells provide promising sources for cardiac disease modeling. For cardiomyopathies, sarcomere shortening is one of the standard physiological assessments that are used with adult cardiomyocytes to examine their disease phenotypes. However, the available methods are not appropriate to assess the contractility of PSC-CMs, as these cells have underdeveloped sarcomeres that are invisible under phase-contrast microscopy. To address this issue and to perform sarcomere shortening with PSC-CMs, fluorescent-tagged sarcomere proteins and fluorescent live-imaging were used. Thin Z-lines and an M-line reside at both ends and the center of a sarcomere, respectively. Z-line proteins — α-Actinin (ACTN2), Telethonin (TCAP), and actin-associated LIM protein (PDLIM3) — and one M-line protein — Myomesin-2 (Myom2) — were tagged with fluorescent proteins. These tagged proteins can be expressed from endogenous alleles as knock-ins or from adeno-associated viruses (AAVs). Here, we introduce the methods to differentiate mouse and human pluripotent stem cells to cardiomyocytes, to produce AAVs, and to perform and analyze live-imaging. We also describe the methods for producing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamps for a patterned culture of PSC-CMs, which facilitates the analysis of sarcomere shortening with fluorescent-tagged proteins. To assess sarcomere shortening, time-lapse images of the beating cells were recorded at a high framerate (50-100 frames per second) under electrical stimulation (0.5-1 Hz). To analyze sarcomere length over the course of cell contraction, the recorded time-lapse images were subjected to SarcOptiM, a plug-in for ImageJ/Fiji. Our strategy provides a simple platform for investigating cardiac disease phenotypes in PSC-CMs.

Introduction

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide¹ and cardiomyopathy represents the third cause of cardiac-related deaths².Cardiomyopathy is a collective group of diseases that affect cardiac muscles. The recent developments of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and the directed-differentiation of iPS cells toward cardiomyocytes (PSC-CMs) have opened the door for studying cardiomyocytes with patient genome as an in vitro model of cardiomyopathy. These cells can be used to understand the pathophysiology of cardiac diseases, to elucidate their molecular mechanisms, and to test different thera....

Protocol

1. Differentiation of mouse pluripotent stem cells

1. Maintenance of mouse ES cells
   1. Maintenance medium: Mix 50 mL of fetal bovine serum (FBS), 5 mL of L-alanine-L-glutamine, 5 mL of non-essential amino acid (NEAA), 5 mL of 100 mM Sodium Pyruvate, and 909 μl of 55 mM 2-Mercaptoethanol with 450 mL of Glasgow Minimum Essential Medium (GMEM). Supplement Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), CHIR-99021, and PD0325901 at a final concentration of 1000 U/mL, 1 μM, and 3 μM, respectively. Sterilize.......

Discussion

PSC-CMs have great potential to be utilized as an in vitro platform to model heart disease and to test the effects of drugs. Nevertheless, an accurate, unified method to assess PSC-CMs functions must first be established. Most of functional tests work with PSC-CMs, e.g., electrophysiology, calcium transient, and metabolism²⁶, and one of the first patient-derived PSC-CM studies was about long-QT syndrome²⁷. However, contractility, one of the most important func.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1-Thioglycerol	Sigma-Aldrich	M6145-25
2-Mercaptoethanol (55mM)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	21985-023
2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer,	NOF Corp.	LIPIDURE-CM5206
2-Propanol	Fujifilm wako	166-04836
35-mm imaging dish with a polymer coverslip (µ-Dish 35 mm, high)	ibidi	81156
AAVproR Helper Free System (AAV6) (vectors; pHelper, pRC6, pAAV-CMV-Vector)	Takara	6651
ACTN2-mCherry (AR12, AR21) hiPSCs	N.A.		We inserted IRES-puromycin resistant casette to 3' UTR of TNNT2 locus and mCherry around the stop codon of ACTN2 in 610B1 hiPSC line, following a method describe elsewhere (Anzai, Methods Mol Biol, in press)
B-27 Supplement (50X), serum free	Thermo Fisher Scientific	17504-044
B-27 Supplement, minus insulin	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A18956-01
B27 supplement (50X), minus Vitamin A	Thermo Fisher Scientific	12587-010
Benzonase (25 U/µL)	Merck Millipore	70746
Blasticidin S Hydrochloride	Fujifilm wako	029-18701
BMP-4, Human, Recombinant,	R&D Systems, Inc.	314-BP-010
Bovine Serum Albumin	Sigma-Aldrich	A4503-100g
C59, Wnt Antagonist (WntC59)	abcam	ab142216
CAD drawing software,	Robert McNeel and Associates, WA, USA	Rhinoceros 6.0
Centrifugal ultrafiltration unit (100k MWCO), Vivaspin-20	Sartorius	VS2042
CHIR99021	Cayman	13122
Chromium etchant	Nihon Kagaku Sangyo Co., Ltd., Japan	N14B
Chromium mask coated with AZP1350	Clean Surface Technology Co., Japan	CBL2506Bu-AZP
Dr. GenTLE Precipitation Carrier (20mg/mL Glycogen, 3 M Sodium Acetate (pH 5.2))	Takara	9094
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) - high glucose	Sigma-Aldrich	D6429-500
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) - high glucose, without sodium pyruvate	Sigma-Aldrich	D5796
Ethanol (99.5)	Fujifilm wako	057-00456
Fetal Bovine Serum	Moregate	59301104
FGF-10, Human, Recombinant,	R&D Systems, Inc.	345-FG-025
Fibroblast Growth Factor(basic), human, recombinant	Fujifilm wako	060-04543
Gelatin from porcine skin powder	Sigma-Aldrich	G1890-100g
Glasgow Minimum Essential Medium (GMEM)	Sigma-Aldrich	G5154-500
GLASS BOTTOM culture plates	MatTek	P24G-1.5-13-F/H
Ham’s F-12	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11765-062
Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Medium (IMDM)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	12440-061
L-alanine-L-glutamine (GlutaMAX Supplement, 200mM)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	35050-061
L(+)-Ascorbic Acid Sodium Salt	Fujifilm wako	196-01252
Laminin-511 E8 fragment (LN511-E8, iMatrix-511)	Nippi	892012
Mask aligner	Union Optical Co., Ltd., Japan	PEM-800
Maskless lithography tool	NanoSystem Solutions, Inc., Japan	D-Light DL-1000
MEM Non-Essential Amino Acids Solution (100X)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11140-050
Millex-HV Syringe Filter Unit, 0.45 µm, PVDF (0.45-µm filter)	Merck Millipore	SLHVR33RS
Myom2-RFP (SMM18)	N.A.		Developed in our previous paper (Chanthra, Sci Rep, 2020)
N-2 Supplement (100X)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	17502-048
ORCA-Flash4.0 V3 digital CMOS camera	Hamamatsu	C13440-20CU
PD0325901	Stemgent	04-0006-10
Penicillin-Streptomycin (10,000 U/mL)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	15140-122
Petri dish	Sansei medical co. Ltd	01-004
Phenol/Chloroform/Isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1)	Nippon Gene	311-90151
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer	Dow Corning Corp., MI, USA	SILPOT 184
polyethylenimine MAX (MW. 40,000)	Polyscience	24765-1
Positive photoresist developer	Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd., Japan	NMD-3
PowerUp SYBR Green Master Mix	Thermo Fisher Scientific	A25742
Proteinase K	Takara	9034
Puromycin Dihydrochloride	Fujifilm wako	166-23153
Recombinant Human/Mouse/Rat Activin A Protein	R&D Systems, Inc.	338-AC-050
Recombinant trypsin-like protease (rTrypsin; TrypLE express)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	12604-039
RPMI1640 Medium	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11875-119
Silicon wafer	Matsuzaki Seisakusyo Co., Ltd., Japan	N.A.
Sodium Pyruvate (100 mM)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	11360-070
Spin-coater	Mikasa Co., Ltd., Japan	MS-A100
Spininng confocal microscopy	Oxford Instruments	Andor Dragonfly Spinning Disk System
StemSure LIF, Mouse, recombinant, Solution (10^6U)	Fujifilm wako	195-16053
SU-8 3010	Kayaku Advanced Materials, Inc., MA, USA	SU-8 3010
SU-8 developer	Kayaku Advanced Materials, Inc., MA, USA	SU-8 developer
Tris-EDTA	Nippon Gene	314-90021
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A165(VEGF), Human, recombinant	Fujifilm wako	226-01781