Human Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Cells Suppress Automaticity of Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes

Clinical translation of stem cell therapies for heart disease is limited by a risk of potentially life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias seen following cardiomyocyte delivery in large animal models. Enhancing cardiomyocyte maturation may reduce this arrhythmogenic risk by reducing automaticity of delivered cardiomyocytes. We tested whether human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived endothelial cells can enhance maturation and suppress automaticity of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes in vitro. We found that co-culture of hiPSC-derived endothelial cells with hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes significantly increased protein expression of cardiac troponin T, cardiac troponin I, Kir2.1, connexin 43, and CD36. In addition, using a stretchable mesh nanoelectronics device, we found that hiPSC-derived endothelial cells accelerated electrical maturation of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and progressively suppressed cardiomyocyte automaticity in vitro (Figure). Using single cell RNA-seq, we identified a subpopulation of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes that is eliminated upon co-culture with hiPSC-derived endothelial cells. Further work will investigate whether this subpopulation of cardiomyocytes is responsible for automaticity of cardiomyocyte cultures. Figure. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes alone (CM only) or iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes co-cultured with iPSC-derived endothelial cells (CM+EC) were seeded onto a stretchable mesh nanoelectronics device. Unstimulated voltage tracings at day 30 of cardiomyocyte differentiation show cardiomyocytes with a slower beating rate and more narrow action potential when co-cultured with iPSC-derived endothelial cells compared to iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes alone.