技术资料

AIMS Current treatment for congenital long QT syndrome Type 2 (cLQTS2),an electrical disorder that increases the risk of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias,is aimed at reducing the incidence of arrhythmia triggers (beta-blockers) or terminating the arrhythmia after onset (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator). An alternative strategy is to target the underlying disease mechanism,which is reduced rapid delayed rectifier current (IKr) passed by Kv11.1 channels. Small molecule activators of Kv11.1 have been identified but the extent to which these can restore normal cardiac signalling in cLQTS2 backgrounds remains unclear. Here,we examined the ability of ICA-105574,an activator of Kv11.1 that impairs transition to the inactivated state,to restore function to heterozygous Kv11.1 channels containing either inactivation enhanced (T618S,N633S) or expression deficient (A422T) mutations. METHODS AND RESULTS ICA-105574 effectively restored Kv11.1 current from heterozygous inactivation enhanced or expression defective mutant channels in heterologous expression systems. In a human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte (hiPSC-CM) model of cLQTS2 containing the expression defective Kv11.1 mutant A422T,cardiac repolarization,estimated from the duration of calcium transients in isolated cells and the rate corrected field potential duration (FPDc) in culture monolayers of cells,was significantly prolonged. The Kv11.1 activator ICA-105574 was able to reverse the prolonged repolarization in a concentration-dependent manner. However,at higher doses,ICA-105574 produced a shortening of the FPDc compared to controls. In vitro and in silico analysis suggests that this overcorrection occurs as a result of a temporal redistribution of the peak IKr to much earlier in the plateau phase of the action potential,which results in early repolarization. CONCLUSION Kv11.1 activators,which target the primary disease mechanism,provide a possible treatment option for cLQTS2,with the caveat that there may be a risk of overcorrection that could itself be pro-arrhythmic. View Publication

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived from healthy individuals are important controls for disease-modeling studies. Here we apply precision health to create a high-quality resource of control iPSCs. Footprint-free lines were reprogrammed from four volunteers of the Personal Genome Project Canada (PGPC). Multilineage-directed differentiation efficiently produced functional cortical neurons,cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes. Pilot users demonstrated versatility by generating kidney organoids,T lymphocytes,and sensory neurons. A frameshift knockout was introduced into MYBPC3 and these cardiomyocytes exhibited the expected hypertrophic phenotype. Whole-genome sequencing-based annotation of PGPC lines revealed on average 20 coding variants. Importantly,nearly all annotated PGPC and HipSci lines harbored at least one pre-existing or acquired variant with cardiac,neurological,or other disease associations. Overall,PGPC lines were efficiently differentiated by multiple users into cells from six tissues for disease modeling,and variant-preferred healthy control lines were identified for specific disease settings. View Publication

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an arrhythmia syndrome characterized by adrenaline induced ventricular tachycardia. The primary genetic aetiologies underlying CPVT are either autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive inheritance,resulting from heterozygous mutations in cardiac ryanodine receptor (RYR2) and homozygous mutations in cardiac calsequestrin-2 (CASQ2),respectively. Recently,a large family with autosomal dominant CPVT due to a heterozygous mutation in CASQ2,p.Lys180Arg,was reported. This resource is the first induced pluripotent stem cell line generated from a patient with autosomal dominant CPVT due to a heterozygous mutation in CASQ2. Induced pluripotent stem cells were generated from the whole blood of a 40-year-old woman with severe CPVT who is heterozygous for the p.Lys180Arg CASQ2 mutation. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) characterization confirmed expression of pluripotency makers,trilineage differentiation potential,and the absence of exogenous pluripotency vector expression. View Publication

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited cardiomyopathy characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy ≥15 mm in the absence of loading conditions. HCM has a prevalence of up to one in 200,and can result in significant adverse outcomes including heart failure and sudden cardiac death. An induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line was generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from the whole blood of a 38-year-old female patient with HCM in which genetic testing identified the well-known pathogenic p.Arg403Gln mutation in myosin heavy chain 7. iPSCs express pluripotency markers,demonstrate trilineage differentiation capacity,and display a normal 46,XX female karyotype. This resource will allow further assessment of the pathophysiological development of HCM. View Publication

Several progenitor cell populations have been reported to exist in hearts that play a role in cardiac turnover and/or repair. Despite the presence of cardiac stem and progenitor cells within the myocardium,functional repair of the heart after injury is inadequate. Identification of the signaling pathways involved in the expansion and differentiation of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) will broaden insight into the fundamental mechanisms playing a role in cardiac homeostasis and disease and might provide strategies for in vivo regenerative therapies. To understand and exploit cardiac ontogeny for drug discovery efforts,we developed an in vitro human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived CPC model system using a highly enriched population of KDR(pos)/CKIT(neg)/NKX2.5(pos) CPCs. Using this model system,these CPCs were capable of generating highly enriched cultures of cardiomyocytes under directed differentiation conditions. In order to facilitate the identification of pathways and targets involved in proliferation and differentiation of resident CPCs,we developed phenotypic screening assays. Screening paradigms for therapeutic applications require a robust,scalable,and consistent methodology. In the present study,we have demonstrated the suitability of these cells for medium to high-throughput screens to assess both proliferation and multilineage differentiation. Using this CPC model system and a small directed compound set,we identified activin-like kinase 5 (transforming growth factor-β type 1 receptor kinase) inhibitors as novel and potent inducers of human CPC differentiation to cardiomyocytes. Significance: Cardiac disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality,with no treatment available that can result in functional repair. This study demonstrates how differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells can be used to identify and isolate cell populations of interest that can translate to the adult human heart. Two separate examples of phenotypic screens are discussed,demonstrating the value of this biologically relevant and reproducible technology. In addition,this assay system was able to identify novel and potent inducers of differentiation and proliferation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac progenitor cells. View Publication