Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences 2 articles published in JoVE Biology Real-Time Measurements of Calcium and Contractility Parameters in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes Rafeeh Dinani1,2, Emmy Manders1,2,3, Michiel Helmes1,2,3, Lili Wang4, Bjorn C. Knollmann4, Diederik W. D. Kuster1,2, Jolanda van der Velden1,2 1Division of Physiology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije University, 2Heart Failure & Arrhythmias, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, 3CytoCypher BV, 4Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Vanderbilt School of Medicine Here, an established method is described to perform contractility and calcium measurements in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes using an optics-based platform. This platform enables researchers to study the effect of mutations and the response to various stimuli in a rapid and reproducible manner. Bioengineering Simultaneous Electrical and Mechanical Stimulation to Enhance Cells' Cardiomyogenic Potential Aida Llucià-Valldeperas1,2, Ramon Bragós3, Antoni Bayés-Genís1,4,5,6 1Insuficiencia Cardiaca y Regeneración Cardiaca (ICREC) Research Program, Health Science Research Institute Germans Trias i Pujol, 2Amsterdam Universitair Medisch Centrum (UMC), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Pulmonology and Physiology, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, 3Electronic and Biomedical Instrumentation Group, Departament d'Enginyeria Electrònica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 4Cardiology Service, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, 5Department of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 6Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) Cardiovascular, Instituto de Salud Carlos III Here we present a protocol for training a cell population using electrical and mechanical stimuli emulating cardiac physiology. This electromechanical stimulation enhances the cardiomyogenic potential of the treated cells and is a promising strategy for further cell therapy, disease modeling, and drug screening.
