Isolation of Human Ventricular Cardiomyocytes from Vibratome-Cut Myocardial Slices

Summary

Presented is a protocol for the isolation of human and animal ventricular cardiomyocytes from vibratome-cut myocardial slices. High yields of calcium-tolerant cells (up to 200 cells/mg) can be obtained from small amounts of tissue (<50 mg). The protocol is applicable to myocardium exposed to cold ischemia for up to 36 h.

Abstract

The isolation of ventricular cardiac myocytes from animal and human hearts is a fundamental method in cardiac research. Animal cardiomyocytes are commonly isolated by coronary perfusion with digestive enzymes. However, isolating human cardiomyocytes is challenging because human myocardial specimens usually do not allow for coronary perfusion, and alternative isolation protocols result in poor yields of viable cells. In addition, human myocardial specimens are rare and only regularly available at institutions with on-site cardiac surgery. This hampers the translation of findings from animal to human cardiomyocytes. Described here is a reliable protocol that enables efficient isolation of ventricular myocytes from human and animal myocardium. To increase the surface-to-volume ratio while minimizing cell damage, myocardial tissue slices 300 µm thick are generated from myocardial specimens with a vibratome. Tissue slices are then digested with protease and collagenase. Rat myocardium was used to establish the protocol and quantify yields of viable, calcium-tolerant myocytes by flow-cytometric cell counting. Comparison with the commonly used tissue-chunk method showed significantly higher yields of rod-shaped cardiomyocytes (41.5 ± 11.9 vs. 7.89 ± 3.6%, p < 0.05). The protocol was translated to failing and non-failing human myocardium, where yields were similar as in rat myocardium and, again, markedly higher than with the tissue-chunk method (45.0 ± 15.0 vs. 6.87 ± 5.23 cells/mg, p < 0.05). Notably, with the protocol presented it is possible to isolate reasonable numbers of viable human cardiomyocytes (9–200 cells/mg) from minimal amounts of tissue (<50 mg). Thus, the method is applicable to healthy and failing myocardium from both human and animal hearts. Furthermore, it is possible to isolate excitable and contractile myocytes from human tissue specimens stored for up to 36 h in cold cardioplegic solution, rendering the method particularly useful for laboratories at institutions without on-site cardiac surgery.

Introduction

A seminal technique that has paved the way to important insights into cardiomyocyte physiology is the isolation of living ventricular cardiomyocytes from intact hearts¹. Isolated cardiomyocytes can be used to study normal cellular structure and function, or the consequences of in vivo experiments; for example, to assess changes in cellular electrophysiology or excitation-contraction coupling in animal models of cardiac disease. Additionally, isolated cardiomyocytes can be used for cell culture, pharmacological interventions, gene transfer, tissue engineering, and many other applications. Therefore, efficient methods for cardiomyocyte isolation ....

Protocol

All experiments with rats were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee Mittelfranken, Bavaria, Germany. Collection and use of human cardiac tissue samples was approved by the Institutional Review Boards of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and the Ruhr-University Bochum. Studies were conducted according to Declaration of Helsinki guidelines. Patients gave their written informed consent prior to tissue collection.

Female Wistar rats (150–200 g) were commercially obtained, anesthetized by injecting 100 mg/kg of thiopental-sodium intraperitoneally, and euthanized by cervical dislocation followed by thoracotomy and excision o....

Results

To verify isolation efficiency, the protocol was used with rat myocardium and the resulting number of viable myocytes was compared with the numbers obtained by isolation via coronary perfusion and by isolation from small tissue chunks (chunk isolation, Figure 2). Chunk isolation and isolation from tissue slices were performed from the same hearts. For the isolation via coronary perfusion, however, the whole heart was used. Coronary perfusion yielded predominantly rod-shaped and cross-striate.......

Discussion

Although the isolation of living cardiomyocytes was established more than 40 years ago and is still a prerequisite for many experimental approaches in cardiac research, it remains a difficult technique with unpredictable outcomes. Cardiomyocyte isolation via perfusion of the coronary arteries with enzyme solution is commonly used for hearts of small animals and yields large numbers of viable cells. However, this requires a relatively complex system and expertise. Furthermore, most human tissue samples are not suited for .......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Chemicals
2,3-butanedionemonoxime	Carl Roth	3494.1	Purity>99%
Bovine serum albumin	Carl Roth	163.2
CaCl2	Carl Roth	5239.2
Creatine monohydrate	Alfa Aesar	B250009
Glucose	Merck	50-99-7
HEPES	Carl Roth	9105.3
KCl	Carl Roth	P017.1
KH2PO4	Carl Roth	3904.2
L-glutamic acid	Fluka Biochemica	49450
Low melting-point agarose	Carl Roth	6351.5
MgCl2 x 6H2O	Carl Roth	A537.1
MgSO4	Sigma Aldrich	M-7506
NaCl	Carl Roth	9265.1
NaHCO3	Carl Roth	8551.2
Paraformaldehyde	Sigma Aldrich	P6148
Taurine	Sigma Aldrich	T8691
Dyes
Di-8-ANEPPS	Thermo Fisher Scientific	D3167
Fluo-4 AM	Thermo Fisher Scientific	F14201
FluoVolt	Thermo Fisher Scientific	F10488
Enzymes
Collagenase CLS type I	Worthington	LS004196	Used for human tissue at 4 mg/mL (activity: 280 U/mg)
Collagenase CLS type II	Worthington	LS004176	Used for rat tissue at 1.5 mg/mL (activity 330 U/mg)
Protease XIV	Sigma Aldrich	P8038	Used for rat tissue at 0.5 mg/mL (activity ≥ 3.5 U/mg)
Proteinase XXIV	Sigma Aldrich	P5147	Used for human tissue at 0.5 mg/mL (activity: 7-14 U/mg)
Material
Cell analyzer (LSR Fortessa)	BD Bioscience	649225
Centrifuge tube, 15 mL	Corning	430790
Centrifuge tube, 50 mL	Corning	430829
Compact shaker	Edmund Bühler	KS-15 B control	Agitation direction: horizontal
Disposable plastic pasteur-pipettes	Carl Roth	EA65.1	For cell trituration use only pipettes with an inner tip diameter ≥2 mm
Forceps	FST	11271-30
Heatblock	VWR	BARN88880030
Nylon net filter, 180 µm	Merck	NY8H04700
TC Dish 100, Standard	Sarstedt	83.3902
TC Dish 35, Standard	Sarstedt	83.3900
TC Dish 60, Standard	Sarstedt	83.3901
Vibratome (VT1200S)	Leica	1491200S001	Includes VibroCheck for infrared-assisted correction of z-deflection