Optogenetic Stimulation of Primary Cardiomyocytes Expressing ChR2

[摘要] Introduction: Non-clinical cardiovascular drug safety assessment is the main step in the progress of new pharmaceutical products. Cardiac drug safety testing focuses on a delayed rectifier potassium channel block and QT interval prolongation, whereas optogenetics is a powerful technology for modulating the electrophysiological properties of excitable cells.Methods: For this purpose, the blue light-gated ion channel, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), has been introduced into isolated primary neonatal cardiomyocytes via a lentiviral vector. After being subjected to optical stimulation, transmembrane potential and intracellular calcium were assessed.Results: Here, we generated cardiomyocytes expressing ChR2 (light-sensitive protein), that upon optical stimulation, the cardiomyocytes depolarized result from alterations of membrane voltage and intracellular calcium.Conclusion: This cell model was easily adapted to a cell culture system in a laboratory, making this method very attractive for therapeutic research on cardiac optogenetics.

[学科分类] 基础医学

[关键词] Primary cardiomyocyte;Optogenetics;ChR2